Travels
by yellow strawberries
Summary: A young witch enters her sixth year at Hogwarts and finds love.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Go on honey. I'll be right behind you. Just trust me."

I take my mom's advice and, squeezing my eyes tightly shut, walk through a wall. Hearing noises around me, I crack my left eye open. Kids are running here and there while their parents weep. A huge red train sits with its welcoming doors beckoning me to hop aboard.

"Ah," my mom sighs happily beside me, "it's great, isn't it. Nothing like Salem." She looks around and narrows her eyes, spotting someone.

She grabs my hand, bringing me with her.

A woman turns and locks eyes with my mom, her eyes widening. "Aly?! Oh, it _is _you Aly!" they exchange hugs.

"Honey," my mom turns to me, "this is a friend of mine when we were younger. She grew up in the house next to me. This is my daughter Corinne." She introduces me. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you! How are you here? Did you marry a wizard or do you have a magical child? I just...I'm so glad to see you!" my mom hugs her again.

"My daughter, Lily, gained magical powers. We're so proud of her." Lily's mom look down at her with joyfulness in her eyes.

Lily and I shyly wave to each other.

The train rings its bell, signaling that it is almost time to go.

"Bye mom." I give her a kiss.

I notice that Lily is waiting for me so I follow her, boarding the train. We walk to an empty compartment, stow our bags away, and take our seats.

"What year are you? I've never seen you before." She asks once we're settled.

"I'm in my sixth year, but it's my first year _here_. I'm from the states. How about you?"

"Same!" she smiles. "Now how about House. What House are you in? Or do you not know yet?"

"I was put in…um…Huffpuff?"

She giggles.

"Hufflepuff. I'm in Gryffindor. We'll probably have classes together."

"What classes does Hogwarts offer?"

"Well, there's my personal favorite – potions. And then there's Transfiguration, Herbology-which you'll definitely be in since your head of House is the professor for that class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, a bunch more. Did your other school have any of those?"

"No." I shake my head. "We had awful classes like Math and English. We do have History of Magic classes that are required every year."

"Were you able to practice magic when you were there _at all_?"

"Well in Physical Examination we used magic then. As I learn more and more I find that America is a lot different from here. We don't have Quidditch, although we do use brooms. Our school looks like a muggle school while I've heard Hogwarts is a castle!" I look to her for confirmation and she nods. "And we were never separated by Houses. And since we obviously don't use magic as much as you guys, I feel behind everyone."

"If you need any help, you can always come to me."

I smile. "Thanks. So do, um, people have prejudices about certain Houses?"

"Oh yes! The most known is between Slytherin and Griffindor. Well, truly, between Slytherin and every House there is. But don't let that stop you from making friends with whomever. You must never judge a person by their House."

The rest of the train ride goes by with her telling me all about Hogwarts: the moving stairs, the talking portraits, the professors, the rooms, etc.

The train comes to a halt around nighttime. As we get off and collect our bags, a group of boys hop off behind us. I catch two of them strut right on up to a student and push all of his things out of his hands. "Snivellus" I hear them snidely remark.

One of them, a dark-haired boy with glasses, starts to walk over to us, the others in tow.

_That is really mean. Poor boy. I've been picked on before but never that cruelly._

"Hey Lily! Did you get my owls?"

I frown and try to look behind them, feeling bad for the boy they teased.

"Well hey there. Lily, who's this pretty thing?" a boy with strikingly handsome features grabs my hand and kisses it.

"Guys, this is Corinne. She's transferring over from America. She's a sixth year also!"

"I'm Sirius Black." The hand-kisser introduces himself. "Perhaps you've heard of me. But I would really love to get to know you."

_Oh goodness no. Sure he's to-die-for handsome, but his smugness and cruelty knock him off my radar. Now Corinne, mom told you to be polite, _no matter what_. _

I muster up a smile. "It's nice to meet you Sirius. Please excuse me." I extricate myself from him and walk over to the boy, still gathering his strewn belongings.

I bend down and help him.

"I don't need your pity." He sneers.

"If it comes off that way, I apologize."

"Your friends are waiting for you." He nods toward the group of boys and Lily staring.

"The boys are not my friends. How do we get to the school from here?"

He rips his books from my hands. "Follow me."

I turn around and wave bye to Lily. I hope I see her again, she was so nice!

"This is cute. What pulls them?" I ask as we settle into a carriage.

He doesn't answer.

"My name's Corinne Daphne. I'm transferring from America."

"Severus Snape." He snipes out.

"It's very nice to meet you." I smile at him, but he's looking away.

_I knew his name wasn't Snivellus._

"Wow! Just. Pure. Wow. This is the school? It's gorgeous! You see I was super hesitant about coming here. I mean why in the world would I want to leave my home and friends behind!? But my mom wanted to come due to…certain reasons, and just look how wonderful this school is. I can't see myself ever wanting to go back to that boring Salem Institute now!"

We get off the carriage and enter through the doors. The dining room is huge, candles are floating in the air, and food is overflowing on the tables. Severus looks behind me and scowls before entering and grabbing a seat.

"There you are. I lost track of you." Sirius comes to my side and winks at me.

My face inwardly drops. As I step forward to find a seat, I notice the tables are separated by Houses. I look behind me for Lily and spot her.

"Lily, do you know which table I sit at?"

She points to the furthest table on the left.

"Oh a Hufflepuff are we?" Sirius asks. "I've found they're more generous, if you know what I mean."

I look at him disgusted and walk away. I see the Hufflepuff Prefect Lily pointed out to me earlier standing at the head of the table waiting for me.

"Miss Daphne I presume? Good evening and can I say that this is quite the lovely addition to Hufflepuff. I'm Alex Fall, the Hufflepuff Prefect. "This," he gestures to the girl on the other side of him, "is Amelya Fall, my sister and the other Hufflepuff Prefect. Here, we've saved you a seat."

Happy that he was so kind and thoughtful, I sit next to him.

"Our head of House is Professor Pomona Sprout." He points to a young squat witch with brown fly-away hair. "She's been here only a few years and also teaches Herbology."

As we eat, Alex tells me all about the Hufflepuff House. We leave early so he can show me around our House. The entrance to the common room is hidden in a stack of rather big barrels.

"We may be in the dungeons, but being so close to the kitchen overlooks that tidbit." He says.

Alex then tells me to tap the barrels in a certain order to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. He warns me that if I get it wrong I'll be doused in vinegar.

_Why couldn't it be water?_

The barrel's lid swings open and we crawl inside.

_I could've done without that. I mean if I have to wear these skirts all the time, I would prefer walking._

I righten myself, smoothing down my skirt. Looking up I become struck. It's probably the coziest place that I've ever seen – like a small hometown muggle coffee shop! It's unique round shape gives it charm.

"Just because we live below the grounds doesn't mean we can't see the outside." Alex says, pointing out the circular windows that show the rippling emerald grass and moonlight.

It's also very earthy. Not surprising though. There are a countless amount of plants dangling from the ceilings and sitting on windowsills. One of the plants is enjoying itself in dance and in another corner a pair are having a conversation.

_I should find that extremely weird, but instead I find it just about the coolest thing ever. At least it'll help me out in Herbology. I hope._

Glossy copper hangs on the walls and fireplace, so shiny that I can sort of see my reflection.

_I hope this isn't what they use for mirrors or else I'm going to be ugly every single day._

Surprisingly, for the amount of copper I see, I don't smell one ounce of metal! By the fireplace are yellow and black overstuffed sofas and chairs. And boy do they look comfy. My only complaint is that my Houses colors are black and yellow. If I wore that combination back home I would be teased endlessly about how I'm turning into a bumbling buzzing little bee.

There are so many sofas and chairs that we have to climb over them as Alex leads me to one of the two round doors in the common room. We go through and enter a tunnel, walking down a couple of feet before stopping in front of a perfectly round door.

"This is your room." He informs me.

"This is just the cutest place I've ever seen!"

I enter my room and am surprised at how spacious it was. I thought for sure it was going to but small and jam-packed with big furniture like the common room was. The walls are a pale but vibrant yellow, radiating warmth. There are 3 four-poster beds.

My mouth opens slightly and eyes widen at the beds size.

_Who needs a bed that big? And should I actually be complaining about that?_

The beds are covered in detailed patchwork quilts. On the walls are antique copper bed warmers.

_I don't even know how to use those. And if I did I would probably burn myself._

Copper lamps emit a soft light in the room.

"This place is homier than my home!" I laugh.

"You should sleep comfortably. I need to go help Amelya with the first years. If you need help getting anywhere or with anything you could come find me or Amelya. Her room's right across from yours. Or you could ask the Fat Friar. He's the friendliest ghost I've ever met, so don't be afraid of him. He wears monk's robes and is always jumping at the chance to help students, whether they're lost or in any kind or trouble. Tomorrow morning at breakfast Professor Sprout will give you your schedule. Let's see…I think that's everything. Oh! You probably have no idea how to play Quidditch, but we'd love for you to try out. Hufflepuffs don't do too well in the sport and so we're always looking for new people to join. Tryouts are next week if you want to come. I'll see you later!" Alex waves to me as he leaves.

"Bye!"

The bed with my suitcases out in front of it I decide is mine. All of my clothes have already been folded and my robes and uniforms are hung. As I look in my drawers and under my bed, two girls come in.

"You must be Corinne! I'm Mandy!" A short, plump girl greets me with a hug. "This is Sally." She gestures to the pig-tailed brunette behind her.

"Was that Alex Fall with you?" asks Sally.

"Yeah." I nod. "He's very nice!"

"Wow." They swoon. "He's _so_ handsome! I've had a crush on him since I first laid eyes on him. His messy blonde hair is purely perfect for his tan skin! He must've spent the summer in some romantic country."

They giggle.

He definitely is a catch. Any girl could see that.

"Well anyway, we're going to the showers if you want to come see where they are." Mandy says.

"Sure thing!" I grab my stuff and follow them.

_I wish my friends were here to experience this with me. I must write to them immediately. _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mandy kindly woke me up the next morning. I put on my uniform and left to go to the Great Hall with them. As I was piling my plate with food, Professor Sprout was handing out the schedules.

"Miss Daphne, it'll be a pleasure seeing you in my class first thing this morning!" she remarks when she reaches me.

"Thank you." I smile and say as I look over my schedule.

Doesn't look like I get away from History of Magic here. Along with that class, I have Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Astronomy. 8 classes total.

_ This is going to be one heck of a busy year._

"Do you know what you wish to do after you leave Hogwarts?" she asks me.

"Not really. I was thinking of becoming a Healer though."

"Your classes reflect your confusion. But you are taking the classes required to become one. A Healer has to receive at least an E at NEWT level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I would usually advise my students who wish to be Healers to drop any excess classes, but as you seem to be unsure, I think it wise to stick with whatever you have." Professor Sprout advises before handing out schedules to the rest of the students.

* * *

I was pleased to see that Lily was in my double Herbology class this morning. I chose a seat by the front so I would be forced to pay attention and was surprised when a head full of thick, red curls bounced into the seat next to me.

"Hope you like Hogwarts so far." She greets.

"How could anyone not! My bed here is twice as comfortable as my one at home."

The class quiets down as Professor Sprout clears her throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"Thank you. And congratulations to everyone who passed their Herbology O.W.L. and decided to further their education. This year is one of preparation for the N.E.W.T.'s. I hope that you all stay and see this class to the end. Sixth and seventh years are my favorite to teach. Instead of merely learning about dangerous plants like many of you did as first years, you'll be out plucking these plants yourself. Sometimes you'll find yourself within the Forbidden Forest. I'll be with you of course. But as sixth years, I stop babying you and start giving you your well-deserved independence. The first thing you'll be doing is capturing Devil's Snare."

For the rest of the class, Professor Sprout informed us of what lies ahead for us and all the assignments due. I wrote them down so that I could get ahead and not have to worry about them later on.

I have a feeling that the library is going to be my new home. When double Herbology ended, I spent my break in there enjoying my little nook. The library is a wonderful place, brimming with information. There are thousands of books on thousands of shelves. It's unbelievable how big this place is! Since it's only the first day, I'm not too surprised that very few people are here. I picked out three books on dangerous plants, each of them containing information about the Devil's Snare. If I have to capture this thing, I better know all the information there is about it so that I'm comfortable in my abilities.

The bells rings, signaling that next period is beginning soon. I gather up my books to be checked out and try to remember where I am so I can pick the same table later.

"As most of you know by now, I'm Professor Slughorn," he greets us as we enter. "Since last year many of you had problems, I've taken the liberty of choosing your partners for you. Let's see here…ah yes! The lovely Miss Evans and Mr. Potter, I have chosen you two to be together as I know amazing things will be made in this partnership. Mr. Pettigrew and Miss Daphne. What a pleasant surprise that I am to be graced by an American!" he says.

_We're not _that_ special._

I sit down at the desk behind Lily. To my left my partner joins me, giving me a disturbing look in those small eyes of his. I remember him from the group of boys he was in with Sirius. For a boy as young as he, I'm amazed to discover that he already has a bald spot. Next to us, Sirius and some other boy had sat down already. I notice that Severus is also in the class, but strangely by himself.

"Flip your books open to page 214 and begin on the potion. I merely wish to see who has been practicing over the summer." Professor Slughorn announces.

I gather the ingredients and set them on the cutting board next to the cauldron which is currently heating up. As I finely chop the onion root, I notice that my partner is leering over me. Uncomfortable, I slowly move down. I end up going down the whole length of the table but to no avail – the small pasty-faced boy keeps following me.

_I don't think there's one decent boy in that group._

"Couldn't stay away for long?" I jump at Sirius' voice then notice how close I am to him.

"Oh no, I just like to use the entire table. It helps me sort the ingredients out better."

Sirius narrows his eyes at my lab partner. "Peter, leave the girl alone. Go to the bathroom or something."

The boy squeaks out as he scrambles out of the classroom, following his orders automatically.

"Thank you." I smile at Sirius and return to the cauldron.

I then busy myself in the next half hour with cutting, measuring, squishing, and mixing with no sign of Peter in sight.

"And how's your potion coming along Miss Daphne?" Professor Slughorn asks me as he roams over to my cauldron.

"Well sir," I look inside of it with him, "not too good." I wrinkle my nose at the smell.

"No wonder! You're all alone! I thought I paired everyone together. No matter, how about you join Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin?" he suggests.

"What about Severus?"

"What about him my dear?"

"He's all alone too. Should I partner up with him?"

"Oh no, no. Mr. Snape is to work by himself. Now, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black. Let's see your potion so far." Professor Slughorn gazes into their cauldron which is blowing lime green bubbles into the air. "Oh dear! Well, since Miss Daphne is to be joining you, why don't you start all over."

"Hello! I'm Corinne." I say to Sirius' partner, a boy with light brown hair oddly freckled with grey, as I pull my chair over.

"Hey, I'm Remus." He sticks his hand out and I shake it.

"Well, if we're going to have to restart, I'll go and get the ingredients." I say and leave to go get them.

Remus and I work silently as Sirius takes a nap for the rest of the class, saying how he believed in us. We manage to successfully brew the potion and Remus wakes Sirius up before Professor Slughorn comes over to tell us what a good team we make.

I eat lunch slowly with Mandy, Sally and Alex because I have a break right after. Nothing to rush to. I grab one of the Herbology books I checked out this morning and take it with me to the courtyard. It's a lovely day outside. The scent of lavender wafts over the grass and around the tree I settled myself under. Birds of many colors and wild flowers are sprinkled around me, chirping songs. Just as I'm starting to truly relax and enjoy myself…

"Whatcha reading there cutie?" I look up and see Sirius with his friends.

"A book."

They plop around me. Sirius takes the book out of my hands and gives it to Remus.

"Ever read it Moony?"

"No." He observes the book. "Herbology isn't one of the subjects I care about."

"I can show you other things more enjoyable and pleasing." Sirius wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

I nod and scoot closer to the person next to me. Unfortunately for me, it was Peter. I scoot back, miserable. I catch Remus' dark blue eyes look at me humorously.

"I think you should take a hint Padfoot." Remus comes to my rescue.

Sirius mumbles and grumbles in reply.

"It's Remus, right?" I ask.

He nods.

"Have you ever heard of Romulus and Remus?"

"Can't say that I have. Is it an American magic story?"

"No, it's Roman mythology. Have you ever heard of Rome?" He nods. "Well, Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. I truthfully don't know the story that well myself, but I do know that they were raised by wolves and founded Rome. I thought that maybe your parents named you Remus after Rome's founders."

Remus looks nervous.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I said something offensive."

"No, you're fine." He shakes his head and gives me a rather to-die-for smile.

"What class do you have next?" Sirius asks me.

"Hmm…let me see. Oh, double Defense Against the Dark Arts is seems."

Sirius laughs. "What's with that look on your face?!"

"Well, it's just, in Salem we never used magic as much as you guys do. And since this next class is pure magic skills, I can't see myself doing so well. And I usually wouldn't care about that, but Professor Sprout told me this morning that in order to be a Healer I have to get an E on my N.E.W.T. Maybe I'll switch what I want to be. Working the trolley cart can't be too bad."

"You're in luck. All of us excel in that subject, especially Remus. I know that I wouldn't mind some late night study sessions." He winks at me.

I start to giggle. Now that I'm getting used to him and his friends, they aren't so bad. Actually pretty funny.

When the bell rings I walk with the boys to DADA.

"Partner up!" The Professor exclaims first thing as we file through.

_What's with these people and partners all the time?_

"Oy, James!" Sirius calls out and goes over to his wire-rimmed friend.

"Be my partner." Peter says to me.

"Sorry Wormtail, but I already promised Corinne that I would be." Remus says next to me.

"Oh yeah, super sorry." I say while Peter walks away. "Thank you. That was so kind of you. But you don't have to be my partner if you don't want to."

"It'll be my pleasure." He replies and I feel my face begin to heat up.

_He's rather cute, and a real gentleman._

"Today we'll be doing some simple exercises. One partner attacks while the other blocks or misdirects it. I'll be around to help and give tips. You may begin." The Professors declares.

"Alright, you attack. I want to try out some shield spells I've been learning about." Remus tells me.

_Well okay then. Hope I don't embarrass myself._

I point my wand at him. "Silencio!"

He blocks it.

I then throw three other spells his way, a stinging hex, a stretching jinx, and a sponge-knees curse. All of them he manages to deflect.

Noticing my enthusiasm wearing slim, Remus gives me a few pointers.

I take his advice and stand straighter, hold my wand tighter, and make my voice clearer.

"Stupefy!"

A bolt of red light hits him and knocks him out.

_Whoops!_

I go over to his body that landed rather harshly on the stone floor.

I aim my wand at him.

"Renervate."

Nothing happens. Then I try out his suggestions again.

"Renervate!"

He wakes up, smiling at me.

"There you go!" he says with a big grin.

"There I go?! You're crazy! I just hurt you!" I laugh.

"It's better than those lame attempts you made earlier."

I laugh harder.

"Nevermind those. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Remus gets up and puts his hand out for me to grab. "It's you I'm beginning to worry about. How are you going to protect yourself from the Dark Lord?"

"Practice?"

"It's a start. Now let's switch. I want to see how your shield spells hold up."

We get in position and begin again and again for the rest of class.

"By Wednesday I want a 6 inch essay on a creature from your book. Class dismissed." The Professor ends the lesson.

After class, on my way to the Great Hall for dinner, Lily catches me in the hallway.

"You should come eat with us!" She urges.

"We don't have to eat with our Houses?" I ask.

"Not particularly."

"That's fine with me then!"

We make our way over to the Gryffindor table and sit down. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter join us.

"And I'm just scared for this Devil's Snare. We've only ever read about it. Never seen it." Lily says.

"That's why I'm reading up on it. I'm going to the library after this if you wanted to come." I offer.

"Of course! I practically live there!"

"We make a great team in Potions, don't you think Lily?" James interrupts us.

"I guess so."

"Agreeing with me – that's new. Next thing I know you'll finally say yes to going out with me!"

"No James."

As those two continue, Sirius turns to me.

"How about you? Will you go out with me?"  
"No!"

"Why not?"

By now the group has stopped their talking and are listening to us.

"Because I don't fancy you."

"I have money, status, and looks. What more do you want?"

"That doesn't impress me Sirius. Don't get me wrong though, I think you're alright. But none of that will keep me warm at night."

"There's other ways to get warm." He winks at me.

"I'm just not interested. I'm sorry."

"Tough break man. No one's turned you down before." James says.

"Yeah, well, I'm not giving up just yet. I like a woman who's hard to please." Sirius replies. "You know what? I think I need to hit the library up. Start on that creature's essay we got in class. Thanks for inviting me."

I throw my hands up in defeat. 'Yeah, why not."

After we finish eating all of us find a table in the library. Lily's reading one of the books I got on the Devil's Snare, the boys are huddling around a piece of parchment, and I'm flipping through my DADA book to pick a creature to write about. I can't even pronounce the names of half of these creatures. I highlight my top three choices: unicorn, giant, and werewolf.

"Do werewolf." Sirius says, suddenly across from me.

I decide to trust him and go off and find the books on werewolves.

"Got enough there?" James asks sarcastically as I drop the 10 books I found onto the tabletop.

"I just want to get my facts straight. I don't know much-really anything-about werewolves. And since my spells aren't up to par with any of your guys', I need to get the points where I can. Here it would be in essays."

"You're doing werewolves?" James asks incredulously.

Remus' eyes are bulging out of their sockets.

"Yeah, why?" I ask confused.

"Uh, no reason."

"Anyways, I always felt history books don't tell the full truth. I think it would be fascinating to meet a werewolf and ask them things that aren't covered in books. Or any creature really. Don't you think?"

"You could always ask Moony. He knows a lot about them." Sirius suggests.

"Well, okay, sure! Remus, did you want to help me?"

"S-s-sure." He fidgets.

"Only if you're sure though. If you have homework that you need to complete instead, I totally understand!"

"No, it's fine."

"Great!" I smile.

I take out my notebook and open one of the books to their section on werewolves.

"Okay," I say, "it says here that the transformation happens on a full moon. What do they mean by transformation?"

"Werewolves are humans most of the time, the exception being once a month when the full moon rises."

"Wow! I didn't know that they were human. I wonder why they're considered creatures then. So are there any here at Hogwarts?"

"Not to my knowledge. Because of the prejudices towards them, they choose to keep their identities a secret."

"What prejudices?"

"They don't teach you much in Salem, do they?"

"Doesn't seem like it _now_." I reply, embarrassed that I look stupid to him.

"I don't think you're dim-witted." He replies, as if reading my mind. "I'm sorry if it came out that way. Werewolves are dangerous creatures. That's not an opinion – that's a fact. The human side loses control and they attack anyone and anything. It wouldn't register to them if you were their child and not a complete stranger, they will only see you as a threat."

"Is there something, like a potion, that they could take to gain control of themselves?"

"Not yet."

"How do you know so much?" But before he could answer I look at the time. "Oh wow! I'm sorry Remus, but I have to go. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it."

I check out the books I have and say goodbye to everyone. I then head to my room to drop off everything before going to my last class of the day – Astronomy. I arrive late, having just come from the complete other end of the castle and having no idea where the Astronomy Tower even was. Everyone is lying down on blankets, staring at the dark starry sky and mapping constellations with their books as guides.

"There are no more empty blankets. You can share mine." I hear a voice a look around.

It's Remus. I happily walk over to him.

"I didn't know you were in this class." I say, lying next to him.

The blanket's too small to fit two teenaged bodies though and the stone too cold to be touching so I turn on my side, facing him. He turns his head to mine and we both realize just how close we are, mere inches apart. His temperate breath falls over my face, warming me up. My eyes gaze over his mouth, slightly open. I lick my lips, staring at his own pink pair. Flicking back up to his eyes, I see they're filled with hope. He whips his head back up, studying the stars. Tired, disappointed, and knowing this class is a joke, I fall asleep.

* * *

"What are you doing here? It's past curfew." I hear Alex say, close by.

I flicker my eyes open and see that Remus is carrying me in his arms.

"She fell asleep in Astronomy. I'm returning her to her room." He replies.

I hear Alex sigh and I shut my eyes again.

"I'll take her from here." He says.

Remus tries sliding me out from his grip and to Alex's, but I hold on tight to him.

"Very well. You may bring her to her room. Follow me." Alex sighs again.

A couple more minutes of walking and being pushed through that damn barrel and I feel the warmth of my room.

"She's in that one." I hear Mandy say to Remus, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

He lays me down on the bed and I loosen my grip. I hear the door close, announcing his departure, and go back to sleep, dreaming of pink lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I wake up to see Mandy and Sally sitting on my bed, staring at me.

_Good thing I wasn't put with creepy roommates_.

"Hate to break it to you guys, but this borders on creepy." I remark, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"So are you going to tell us why one of the Untouchables was holding you last night?" Mandy asks.

"Untouchables?"

_What?_

"The Marauders! You know, James, Sirius, Remus and…well, Peter, but we don't really see Peter as desirable. EW! Sally can you imagine?!"

They stick their tongues out in disgust.

"Anyway," Mandy continues on, "every girl wants to be with them, or in our case to be graced by their presence."

"Oh, I just conked out in Astronomy. Remus is just really sweet and, being the nice guy he is, carried me here!"

"Right." They say in unison disbelieving voices.

"Go get dressed so we can eat breakfast." Sally urges me with pokes.

I laugh and throw my hands up. Rolling out from under my quilt, I put on my uniform and head to the Great Hall with them, my stomach grumbling along the way.

"Good morning Corinne."

"Good morning Alex!" I chirp out and sit next to him.

As I'm buttering my freshly-baked roll, I feel a light pinch on my leg and I look to my right. Mandy gives me an incredulous look, gazing from Alex to me. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

After I spend History of Magic with Mandy and Sally questioning me about Alex, I was thankful they decided not to join me in the library for break. I managed to read those sections in the 3 books I got on the Devil's Snare twice and take notes. To be safe, I started to reread a third time but had to stop when the bell rang, moving me on to my next class – Transfiguration. Luckily for me, Mandy and Sally didn't have the class at the same time as me. Don't get me wrong, they're lovely girls and bowls of fun and I like to gossip as much as the next person, but they like to analyze things that don't need to be analyzed. It's just too much for me. Maybe they would become code breakers…or how abo–

My thoughts get interrupted when I hear my name being called. I wave to Sirius, James, and Remus.

"Wow," Sirius wraps his arm around my waist, "I meant to tell you yesterday, but that uniform really flatters you. It fit's you in ways that I fantasize about whe–" I stop him before he can go any farther.

I shrug his arm off.

"You _really_ need to work on those compliments."

Feeling self-conscious, I start tugging on my uniform, pulling everything down and making sure nothing tempting shows.

"Morning Remus!" I say.

"Good morning." He looks especially tired.

The Professor begins his long-winded lecture and I find it hard to pay attention. Not just because of his monotone voice, but because the 3 boys are talking throughout the entire class, using magical quills to copy the notes down for them. I contemplate using a spell to stop their quills but rule it out on accordance of that being mean. Instead I join Lily in glaring at them.

* * *

Why do James and Sirius call you Moony?" I ask Remus as I join them for lunch.

"He has a weird allergic reaction to the moon." Sirius chimes in.

"Oh, that is weird. But wait, what about–" James cuts me and my thought off.

"How well are you getting around the school Corinne? I remember as a first year I got lost all the time."

"Well, yeah, not that well. I've only been early to one class and that was because I stumbled upon it! The classes I don't have with friends take me forever to find."

"It just so happens that Remus here knows the school and Hogsmeade like the back of his hand. I'm sure he'd love to-"

"Hey! I can show you around!" Sirius interrupts.

James throws him a glare and Sirius doesn't say anymore. Remus says he could help me find my remaining classes. I of course agree. Like I was about to deny a chance to spend time with him!

"Can I ask you more questions about werewolves?"

"Y-yeah, that's fine."

"Well yesterday you were saying how werewolves are human most of the time. I was wondering if there was, like, a way to identify them? To easily pick one out from a crowd?"

Remus looks strained, but I write it off as a difficult question that I came up with.

_Hah, I'm a genius._

"The most prominent feature is that they're usually tired, fatigued. And are absent once a month when the full moon presents itself."

As I jot this newfound information down, Lily jokes around.

"So what, are you a werewolf Remus?" she laughs.

Noticing everyone's silence, she awkwardly stops.

_I guess the girl has to work on her humor. _

James helps me to my feet and I leave with him, Lily, and Remus to Charms.

"Are you going to sit with us for dinner?" Lily asks.

"Oh, I was going to eat with Mandy and Sally if that's okay?"

"Oh. Yeah. Go ahead." She smiles but I recognize a dejected look on her face.

_Maybe Mandy and Sally won't mind…_

Charms was boring. The Professor lectured the entire class. On top of that Remus and James spent the time talking again and looking at that parchment that's always with them.

_What's so special about that stupid thing anyway. He should be looking at me, not that. I tried to look extra-pretty today for him. But no, that dang paper attracts his attention more._

Their quills weren't taking notes for them this time though.

* * *

"Did you want my notes from Charms?" I ask Remus and James, catching them on my way from Ancient Runes to dinner.

"We sure do!" James smiles cheekily and takes it.

I look around the Great Hall, seeing if Lily was there yet. No red flames shoot out at my eyes, so I head over to my table to join my Mandy and Sally who are waving at me. I wave back but find my head turning and body getting farther away.

"Sirius!" I swat at his hands. "Let me go!"

"Come sit with Lily. She's all alone, being the only girl with us handsome boys." He grins.

"She isn't even here!"

"If that won't convince you, I know that Remus would enjoy your company."

"Well if I must. I wouldn't want to let anyone down, you know." I willingly head over.

As I settle in and build my plate and fill my cup, I remember something. Something I wrote in that notebook. I look over and see Sirius reading it, his eyes wide.

"Hey Prongs, look at this interesting tidbit Corinne took in class." Sirius grins wolfishly at me while he hands James the notebook.

It takes James a minute to spot it, but when he does, he hands it to Remus. Thankfully Remus is sitting next to me, making the notebook easier to grab. I try taking it out of his hands and covering his eyes. Pushing on Remus harder than I thought, he falls out of his seat. But he still has the stupid notebook.

_Why did I have to write that?!_

I clamber out of my seat and on top of Remus and try to pry it out of his iron-clad grip. While most times I would find this position exciting, right now I'm sweating with nervousness.

"Ur, Corinne, what're you doing?"

"Nothing!" I smile anxiously.

"Bloody hell nothing!"

He them moves us so he's on top, dangling my notebook above my head, trying to read it. I knee him as hard as I can, and, as he's groaning in pain, I push him off. It falls out of his hands and I snatch it before he can, clutching it to my chest. Remus rightens my skirt as I calm down, a huge smile on his face.

_Oh well, fair trade for him seeing my knickers._

"Lucky man." I hear Sirius mumble.

I get off of Remus and go back to my seat, safely tucking my book away and making a mental note to scourgify it later.

_I'm such a spaz. Can I get more desperate? Thank goodness he didn't see that. If he did, he would be creeped out and _never _talk to me again. Those boys better not say anything to him._

Sirius and James stare at me every now and then, guffawing each time.

_Nice to know that they find this funny…_

* * *

_I'm with these boys too much._

That's my thought as I head to the library with them after dinner. I drop my stuff off and go off in search of books to read for pleasure.

_I wonder if they even have them here. They've got to…_

"So Remus, huh?" Sirius slides his body to the bottom of the ladder I'm standing on.

_These ladders are pretty tall by the way. And old. If I break one of these rings and fall on my bum, I will die of embarrassment._

"I have no idea what you are possibly referring to Sirius." I feign ignorance.

_It's not that hard for me to pass as stupid. People always couple together blonde hair and brainlessness. _

Sirius barks out a laugh.

_Boy really needs to work on those laughs. They scare me each time. And make me want a dog._

"I saw those hearts."

"I was doodling. I do make impressive hearts though, if I may say so." I climb down the ladder, Sirius helping me.

"'Doodling'. Yeah. Remus' name."

I hit him with a rather thick book I found. Unfortunately he's built like a damn brick.

"I'm a little surprised it ain't my name princess, but I'm glad it's him. He…he has his difficulties. He doesn't put his trust in anyone, so don't screw it up." He becomes really serious and, almost protective.

"Screw what up?"

"Your relationship of course!"

"Relationship? Sirius, I don't even know if he likes me."

"Hmm. Leave that to me." Sirius leaves and I follow, hiding behind a bookcase where the boys are sitting at a table talking.

_Is that all they ever do? _

After 5 minutes of boring chat, I'm tempted to go back where I was. But hope keeps my feet planted.

"So Corinne's knickers, that must've been something. Someone as pretty as her must have pretty things." Sirius finally says.

_Not at all was I expecting, nor wanting, that. Can always trust Sirius._

"So what'd those look like?" Sirius presses on.

_Pervert. Remus probably didn't look, the gentleman that he is!_

"They were grey. Um..lacy? I don't know, there wasn't much there. Quite skimpy."

_Or not. _

"You're one lucky chap. Why don't you ask her out mate?"

"You know I can't."

"Don't you like her?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, she's really pretty and nice."

I become as light as a feather as my soul springs out of me and bounces around. My smiles stretches wide and I bite my lip to contain myself.

"So…?" James urges.

"So, you know what."

_What?! What do they know!?_

"You've got to trust some girl with your furry little secret Moony." James tells Remus.

'_Furry little secret'? Is he abnormally hairy? I haven't noticed anything. Does he have a furry back or chest? Can these boys elaborate?_

"It's too soon." Remus replies.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

December snuck up on everyone. Before anyone knew it, it was one week 'til Winter Break. But the bigger topic was Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party for the Slug Club. Former and present members were going to be there and it's a big to-do because of the amount of influence and power these former members have. Not being in his club, I wasn't invited. Now I wouldn't normally be upset not being invited to a party, but seeing how Lily, Remus, Sirius, _and_ Peter were all in his club and all going, I felt a little left out. At least James is in the same predicament.

I've developed a chocolate addiction that I would like to blame Remus for. I also blame it for the extra pounds I've packed on, but everyone says they can't see it.

"What are you guys doing over Break?" I ask, trying to steer the conversation away from the Slughorn Party topic.

"Well I'm staying over at Prongs' house." Sirius says.

"Won't your parents miss you?"

"Oh no love. I ran away in the summer. I live with the Potter's now."

"You could always stay with me." I suggest.

"You should be saying that stuff to Remus, mate." Yes, the past few months James and Sirius found it a fun pastime to taunt me.

"Well all of you can. My mom isn't home much anyway. And she wrote to tell me that she moved us again to live in a house right next to Lily's! I know I'll be seeing James more than once." I tease.

"Alright, when Prongs goes over to Lily's house for a romp in the sack, I'll come over to your place and bring ol' Moony and Wormtail with me."

"Sounds good!" I sigh. "I'm going to miss you all – well except you Lily but that's understandable. I'm going to write every day, I promise. Even if you get annoyed and I start to write inane stuff, I'll still write." I lock eyes with Remus and he looks away.

That boy's infuriating! 'I don't care that you're hairy!' I feel like shouting at him.

"Getting back to that Christmas Party, Lily asked me to go with her." James smirks and leans back.

"I said if you really wanted to escort me there I wouldn't object." Lily says, trying and failing to hide her smile.

_And then there's one. Looks like a night in with Mandy and Sally for this girl._

"I'm taking…bloody hell I don't even know who I'm taking. Can't remember her name for the life of me." Sirius says.

We all laugh at Sirius and his suave way with women.

"Who are you taking Remus?" Lily asks.

I perk my ears up, ready to shoot the girl down with my deadly death glares.

"I haven't given it much thought. I've been busy with other things." He replies.

"Well you better hurry up. No girl is going to wait forever, even if you are one of the "Untouchables"." Lily and I giggle at that epithet I told her about.

Lily figured out the whole thing between me and Remus quickly. Meaning James told her.

"Whatever. You ready for Astronomy Corinne?" Remus gets up.

I follow, but not before pouting to Lily.

After the first night of Astronomy, I never had to share a blanket with Remus again. I got there early enough so that there were always some to pick from. But most of the time I put my blanket near his so he could help me pick out stars and constellations. It amazes me how much he knows about the night sky. It comes to him so easily.

On this particular night, there were comets falling.

"You know the theory muggles have about them?" I ask him and we lay down.

"No, what?"

"Well, they call them shooting stars and they wish on them, hoping for their wish to come true. Muggles are all sorts of fun, don't you think?"

"I've always liked your knowledge of muggles."

My heart flutters and I look over to him, but his gaze is strictly on the sky.

"Oh! So do you remember how you helped me get a perfect on my essay on werewolves?" He whips his head to mine. "Well, I was reading the other day about this potion that just came out. It's called um…it's called…" I snap my fingers, hoping that it'll come to me.

"Wolfsbane."

"Yes! Wolfsbane! Did you read the article too? Truthfully I don't know much about it, but I hope it solves a problem of theirs. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"The comet shower is beginning. Are you going to make a wish?" Remus asks.

"Of course! Like I would ever miss an opportunity to do that! Are you?"

"I guess."

Lights flash through the dark, dark blue sky, leaving twinkling glitter in their wake. Travelling slow enough for my eyes to follow, I count five shooting stars.

_Does that mean I make 5 wishes or 1 that's five times as powerful?_

It's quite breathtaking. Once they pass our view, the Professor has us calculate their route and map it before we leave.

"That's definitely one reason to take the class." I say as we walk down the corridor.

Remus doesn't respond, but what's new. I'm always the chatty one here. He walks me all the way to the Hufflepuff common room, as he usually does after Astronomy. I'm about to walk – no sorry, I meant crawl like a lady – into my House when he takes my hand. Surprised, I turn around.

"I was," he rakes his hand through his hair, "I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Slughorn's Party. With me that is." He peers at his shoes, admiring those black laces of his.

"Of course! You know Rem, that was my wish tonight." I bite my lip as I smile and walk away.

_I guess muggles weren't wrong after all._

I run to my room and owl Lily right away.

Dear Lil,

All of your prodding has _finally_ paid off. Remus just asked me. Well, not out, but to the Christmas Party! Tomorrow's Hogsmeade. Did you want to go shopping together?

Love, Corinne

Lily owled me right back.

Cori,

Finally! I've been working too hard on that stubborn boy. I'm so happy for you! And yes to Hogsmeade. We'll catch the early carriage so we have all day."

Lily

P.S. And look at this letter James just sent me. Something tells me that you'll appreciate it.

_My dearest Lily Flower,_

_I'm sorry if I have woken you up my sweet. I thought you might want to hear some great news though. Moony just came in and said he asked Cori to Professor Slughorn's Slug Club Party. It's quite obvious likes her. And he won't stop talking about bloody shooting stars! What the hell are they!? Of course no one could rival my fondness for you my dearest. I just wanted to let you know that Sirius and I are planning something over break to ensure these two young things get together at last. Tell me if you wanted to join in._

_Sweet dreams,_

_James_

Lil,

Um, I think you should help James. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Cori

Beyond happy, I get ready for bed. I keep the letters close to me and will myself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I wake up at the crack of dawn.

_As if Lily didn't do the same thing._

I bundle myself up since the ground is blanketed with white crystals tumbling down from the sky.

Morning Lily!

I hope you're up when Pearl knocks on your window and hands you this. I'll meet you in front of the Great Hall for breakfast.

Corinne

I tiptoe out of my room and slowly close my door so as to not wake Mandy or Sally. I bump into Alex in the common room on my way out.

"Up already?" He whispers.

"Yeah, Lily and I want an early start in Hogsmeade. How about you?"

"I just got back from a party some Prefects were having. I saw that Remus kid there. He's your friend, right?"

"Yep! Was Lily there too?"

"I don't remember seeing her. Besides, she doesn't really strike me as the partier sort. I'm going to bed, but see you later. Okay?"

I nod in confirmation. "Night!" I say and leave.

I walk quickly down the hallways and through the corridors. When I see Lily in front the Great Hall I wave in excitement.

"Lils, I'm so happy!" I exclaim and I hug her.

She laughs. "I can see that. What's the shooting stars thing about?"

We go in and I sit with her. There are a few other people here up and eating. More than I suspected anyway.

"It was in Astronomy last night. Muggles make wishes on shooting stars and it just so happened that there was a comet shower last night."

"I know all that! I live with muggles!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" I then proceed to tell her about my wish and what I said to Remus.

"This is better than one of those romance novels you've got me hooked on."

"And the best part is that it's real life! Okay, yeah, we're not going out, but it's an improvement over the nothingness that existed before. I can only flirt with him for so long before I lose my patience. Ugh, I'm so pathetic. Let's change the subject. So you and James, huh?"

"Yeah." She suddenly turns shy.

"Yeah…" I prompt.

"Fine. I _do_ like him." She laughs and playfully hits my arm. "Happy now?"

"It's nice to hear you finally admit it."

"He's just, oh Cori, he's wonderful. After all of these years it's hard to not want to be with him. I…okay, you can't tell anyone."

"I promise! What?!"

"Well, I can honestly say that I see myself with him forever."

I bounce up and down giddily, happy for her.

Lily laughs. "Calm down!"

* * *

"Where do you want to go first?" she asks me once we step out of the carriage.

I look around at the multitude of shops. Snow drops on top our noses and all around the town. Everyone's door is closed, entrapping heat within. Frosty icicles hang down from the windows and the glittering snowflakes gather in the shop letters above the stores. Tiny patches of ice form in the cracks of the ground, waiting for people to slip and fall.

"Anywhere but Gladrags right now. I'm bloated from breakfast." I pat my stomach.

We decide to go to Tomes and Scrolls first. I head to the romance section while Lily peruses over some boring books, joining me a bit later. We spend an hour observing the covers, reading the first couple of pages, and making our selection. I could truthfully spend my life with books.

_Maybe that's what I should do._

After purchasing, our stomachs alert us to the fact that lunchtime has hit. We make our way to the welcoming atmosphere of the Three Broomsticks. As soon as I open the door, its smoky familiarity fills my nose. We sit in the warmth for a while to defrost, drinking our butterbeers, before convincing each other to go and brace the cold again. Lily takes me to the Shrieking Shack. It's an abandoned house that sits all alone on a snowy hill. We stand by the fence. It's old and in bad shape.

"It's one of the most haunted places in Britain." Lily says.

"It sure is creepy, I'll give you that much. I wouldn't want to go any closer to it. It gives me the chills. Well, more chills." I shiver.

_But I don't hear any shrieking. I wonder why it's called that. _

We head back into town and go into Honeydukes, the best candy shop around in my opinion. I buy Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, a couple packs of Chocoballs, a box of Crystallised pineapple, the deluxe variety of Sugar Quills so I can fill my stomach during class while look like I'm contemplating teachers questions, and Pink Coconut Ice. On our way out, Lily convinces me to dip a sweet into this dark red syrupy looking thing in front of the store, calling it 'Bat Blood Soup'. I'm vehemently against it, thinking she's sick and disgusting, but then she clarifies herself, saying that it's also known as 'Marshmallow Fondue'. Then I dip away. And vigorously enjoy myself.

"Are you ready to pick out dresses? Please say yes." Lily says.

"Psh, please. That's what I've been waiting for since Remus asked."

We joyfully head into Gladrags Wizardwear. The dresses were on the first level of the store. We comb the place for 2 hours, inspecting each and every dress they had. Lily decides to go into the dressing room first, so I sit and wait.

"Here's the first one." She steps out.

The dress is orange. That alone said it.

"No." I say.

I glance around the dimly-lit place, noticing that a few other girls are here. The boy's side of Gladrags is on the right side, obstructed from my view by the giggling girls.

"Okay, here's another." She comes out in a strapless pristine white dress, exuberating innocence.

"Is this for your wedding?"

"So this one's a no."

"The muggles always say that the third time is the charm!" I shout to her as she changes.

"That's the one." I say automatically as the stall opens.

Lily walks over to the 3-way mirror and twirls and swirls. She's stands there for a couple of minutes, admiring herself, but I don't say anything, glad that she feels beautiful.

"Your turn!" she finally turns around and changes back to her old clothes.

It's a longer process for me. I try clingy to short to ballroom to disaster. By the time my own perfect dress shows itself, we're both pleased and relieved. I mean I was starting to think that the dresses weren't the ugly ones. Lily denied this every time I brought it up. We get the lady in charge of Gladrags Wizardwear to send the dresses to Hogwarts. She guarantees that they'll be there tomorrow morning, just in time for Slughorn's Party that night!

"Oh Lils, can we go in there? I need more ink!" I grab her arm and point to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.

"Sure!"

We go in and I gape at all the different color inks. As I gaze at the pastels, Lily excuses herself, saying that she wants to go talk to someone outside. Something catches my eye as I walk around.

_That can't be – oh my, it is!_

"Lily, you will _not_ believe what Shrivenshaft's had!" I exclaim walking out of the store and looking into my bag. "Prepare yourself. They have sparkle pink ink. When you write it sparkles and twinkles! Now come on, is that not the most fascinating thing ever?" I pick the bottle up in my hand to show her and look up.

Lily is with the boys and are just staring.

_Uhh…_

"That is quite a find." I turn around and catch sight of Alex.

"Hey you! You made it! I thought you would've still been sleeping." I laugh.

"Same, but some mates of mine had a potion. Did great things."

"Who are you?" Sirius yells at us.

"Alex Fall, Hufflepuff Prefect."

"No, not you. Her." He points to me.

_Did he fall on his head or something?_

"Uh, Sirius, that's Corinne." Lily says.

He cracks up, his head falling back.

"What happened to _you_? You look huge!"

"Well," I blush, embarrassed, "it's cold."

"It's nowhere near that cold, sweetheart. Ah well, I guess it's you. I mean Corinne's the only one I know who would go out in public wearing a pink top and bottoms."

I wiggle my hands at him.

"And mittens." He adds. "You're like a giant pink puff ball."

"I'm that fat?" I frown.

"Of course not. You're perfectly beautiful." Alex says.

"Thank you." I smile at him.

"Who's scarf is that? The Gryffindor one." He asks me.

"Lily's."

"Lily's?!" James jumps into the conversation. "You took my darling's scarf? Her neck'll get cold!" He stomps over and takes it off my neck and wraps it around hers.

Sirius elbows Remus. Just as Remus steps forward, Alex wraps his scarf around me.

"That's alright, I'll be fine. Besides, our scarves are the same. I wouldn't want to get them confused." I refuse.

"Come on, we forgot shoes!" Lily grabs my hand.

We giggle and walk away, hand-in-hand.

"When I was over there with the boys," Lily says as we try on shoes, "Remus said that you looked like a perfect pink puffball."

I smile.

"Boys and their compliments."

"You two are seriously opposites. While he's sickly-looking and in grey, you have blindingly bright hair and a personality to match."

"You're one to talk. You and James couldn't be more different."

"Trust me, I know. But James told me that Remus feels as if he doesn't deserve you."

"Deserve me? What does he mean by that?"

"I have no clue."

I shake my head. We pay for our shoes and get in line for the carriages. Lily and I settle into a nice spacious one, perfect to fit the bags we have. But before we are about to take off, the boys hop in, Remus sitting next to me.

"Good morning." I smile cheerfully at him.

"Good afternoon." He grins back.

I fish through one of Lily's and my various shopping bags placed everywhere possible, some even on the boys' laps.

"Did you hear? Glittery pink Rem!" I show him my ink and hold it up to the snowy sky, peering at it.

"We all heard. Including random passerbys." Sirius remarks.

I glare at him as I get out one the books I bought.

"See," I write my name in it, "isn't that pretty?"

"Yeah, really…er…sparkles."

"Here, you try." I hand another book to him.

"Er, okay." He tries it out.

"See? Oh, you have to try this pastel pink I got too, and then there's this hot pink one…"

* * *

"Well he's hooked." James says to me as we're lounging in the Gryffindor common room.

An hour earlier I dropped my bags off in my room and took a shower, ridding myself of the day's work. Then Lily got me and took me here, where James and I are currently playing chess while the others are lounging by the large fireplace. I prefer the Hufflepuff common room truthfully. The overstuffed furniture has really grown on me and the plants are great company.

"Why'd you say that?"

"Really Cori?"

"Yes 'really'. Why?"

"It couldn't be more obvious. He spent the whole bloody carriage ride paying attention to you and your stupid pink ink."

"Rude, it isn't stupid."

He gives me a pointed look. I sigh and look over at Remus.

"Oh James – check – do you think he'll ever ask me out?"

"Damn, hold on." A couple of minutes pass. "There's no way to tell love. Just be patient. Sirius and I are trying our best."

"I know, and thank you for that."

"He just has some things he's not ready to share."

"Checkmate."

"Bloody hell! Don't tell Lily."

"I won't." I laugh.

We go over and join them on the couch.

"How'd it go?" Lily asks.

"A stalemate." I cover.

"She beat him. You two left your game up." Remus says.

"Damn you Moony." James shoots him death glares.

"Well," Lily drawls out, "Cori and I are going to bed now. If you want us nice and presentable, we're going to need our beauty sleep. Come on, I'll walk you."

I get up and follow her to my House's barrels.

"Whose room do you want to get dressed in?" I ask.

"Let's do yours because the boys and I are in the same House so if we bump into them it would ruin any effect we're trying to go for."

"Sounds great!" I tap on the barrels.

"Wait Cori." She grabs my arm. "When you were talking with James, I was with the boys. And Remus is really put out by that Alex guy from Hogsmeade. I think you should do something to restore his confidence."

"Oh, okay, I'll just um…owl him something?"

"Good idea. And Corinne? I just wanted to let you know that I really like being your friend. I don't have many girl friends and, well, you're my best. You know, best friend." She looks down, shy.

"That's the sweetest thing ever!" I hug her.

She laughs.

"And yeah, you have a weird obsession with pink, but that's kind of helped me become more girly and take care of myself more. I never thought I would say it, but it's true – I like the long talks, the shopping, and the happiness I get from being with you. You're honestly the kindest person I know and I want you to know that I plan on being here for you always. Now, before I make a bigger fool of myself, I'm going to leave and you're going to owl Remus. Night."

"You upstage me in school and as a friend." I hug her goodbye and wipe away my stray tear.

After she leaves, I'm in the happiest mood over.

Dear Rem,

Sweet dreams.

Love, Corinne

_Here's a chance to use my new ink. And ah, look at the way it shimmers. _

Hoping that's enough, I send it to Remus through Pearl.

To my surprise he writes back.

Dear Cori,

As to you.

Love, Remus


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I wake up around 11. Missing breakfast, my stomach is mad at me. I put on my slippers and journey down to the Great Hall, sitting at my House for once. I didn't want to face many people – I'm no model when I wake up.

"Hey there stranger!" Mandy greets.

"Hey yourself. Were you at Hogsmeade yesterday? I didn't see you or Sally."

"I was _supposed_ to, but I got stood up. Spent the whole bloody day waiting for him too. Apparently he went with some other girl. Probably prettier."

"Oh Mandy, that's awful! Have you talked to him? Maybe he just forgot." I try to reason.

"I owled him, but haven't got anything back so far. Best to forget him. I made Sally stay in with me yesterday so I could blubber on about him."

"I feel terrible I wasn't there for you."

"Nothing you could've predicted. Besides, you had to get a dress to go dancing with an Untouchable. I'm _so_ jealous of you!"

"Don't be." I laugh. "We're just friends."

_And will be forever if this boy doesn't pick up the pace._

Finishing lunch, I leave and bump into Sirius and Lily.

"No matter my love, I still find you breathtaking." He wraps his arms around my shoulder. "And those animals on your feet, grrr!"

"They're bunnies you dork!" I laugh at him.

He puts his hands up and leaves Lily and me.

"My sister and I used to do facials all the time. Do you want to go to the Kitchens and make some?" Lily suggests.

"Sounds great!"

In a mixing bowl we combine some kind of juice, a green thing she called an avocado, honey, and orange zest. Before we leave, one of the house elves cuts up a cucumber for us.

In my room, Sally and Mandy join Lily and me in the facials. We rub them into our faces, looking weird but smelling quite delicious. In the meantime, we do our nails. The smell of our masks is so good that Lily and I head back to the Kitchens to nosh on something. When it's time for the masks to be washed out, we decide to take a shower altogether.

Her being a Prefect leads me into their bathroom.

"This place is beyond magnificent. You are such lucky girl." I say as we slip into the pool-like tub.

Clearing my body of unwanted hair, I get interrupted by the Marauders. I forgot that Remus was a Prefect also, and being friends with the boys he was bound to let them in here whenever they wanted.

"Hello ladies." Sirius struts his stuff.

"It's occupied. Out!" Lily commands.

"There was so sign on the door so I don't think so." Sirius strips his clothes off as Lily and I sink down further into the bubbles and water.

_If there ever was a time to be thankful for bubbles, it would be now._

The other boys follow Sirius' lead and settle across from us.

_This is all very uncomfortable._

"You two going to tell us what's on your faces? I never would've recognized you two if it wasn't for Lily's obnoxious red hair." Sirius says.

"It's not obnoxious! It's lovely!" James defends as Lily shoots daggers at all of them.

"Please get out. Corinne and I are here, and you all by far are not welcome." Lily replies.

Sirius swims over next to me. I hope he doesn't try anything. With his pointer finger he draws some of my face mask onto it and pops it into his mouth.

"That's delicious! Guys," Sirius drags me over, and I mean drags because I wasn't about to stand up, "you have to try this."

James goes over to Lily and I kneel next to the others. Then Peter does the most disgusting thing. Instead of using his pointer finger like Sirius, the crazed loon licks me!

Licks me!

Seeing my revolted face, Remus pushes him away.

I plunge my head under the water, ridding my face of Peter's slobber and the remains of the mask. Suddenly a hand connects with the back of my head and pushes me down further in the soapy water. I gasp my last breath of air out in startlement and struggle for oxygen. I claw at the hand and legs in my reach. Stars and warning lights take over my vision. Finally, my face gets pulled out of the water. I spit out the water gathered in my mouth and cough until I'm sure a lung came out.

"Ahh, did Remus just get lucky under the water?" James asks.

I look and see that I'm in a rather…sticky situation, my head popping out in front of Remus' lap. But that's not weighing too heavily on my mind.

"What was that for?" I manage to get out between coughs.

"Sorry Corrine. Alex came in. The Hufflepuff Prefect. And if he caught you you would've gotten in major trouble for being with us boys. If it makes you feel any better James did the same thing to Lily. But we're going to go before anything else can happen." Remus and the others start to get out, uncaring of the fact that Lily and I are present.

I cover my eyes.

"Are you dressed yet?" I ask.

"Sure, if a towel counts." Remus says.

I stare everywhere but at him.

"Will you get in trouble for bringing the boys in here?"

"If he tells on me then I would get my privileges taken away, along with being a Prefect." He shrugs.

"Oh Rem, I'm sorry!"

He laughs.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for? We're the ones who came in after you two were already here."

"Remus, come on!" Sirius hollers.

Once the boys leave, Lily and I return to our previous activities, washing our hair and body. After doing everything possible, we get out and head back to my room.

"Did you want to go to dinner? It's that time of day already." Lily asks me.

"Please, I'm starved." Keeping our hair wrapped up in towels we head over to the Hufflepuff table.

"You left this on the table this morning." Alex hands me the letter my mom's owl dropped off earlier.

"Oh gosh, I can't believe I forgot this. Thanks so much!"

I carefully rip open the red envelope and extract the calligraphied paper from within.

My Dear Corinne,

How could you not tell me about this Christmas Party you're going to? I just heard from Lily's mom that Lily is going too! Rose also told me that you're going with a boy! Even more exciting! I wish I was there to talk to you about boys. Since I'm not, I'll just write a few things down here. Do you know how many teenagers are having sex these days? I don't, but I suspect it's more than in my time. Quite scandalous. In case you have any wild ideas or urges, I sent a letter to Madame Pompfrey at your school and she reassured me that she will speak to you about proper protection. Now, Rose told me this young man's name is a Remus Lupin. I'm going to take the initiative and owl his parents. I think it would be superb to have tea with them. I really want to meet more wizard parents. I hope to see you very soon!

Love,

Mom

"That's so nice of her!" Lily says, reading over my shoulder. "Sorry about my mum though, she lives for gossip."

"Same with my mom. It's like she sniffs it out."

"Do you want to go see Madam Pomprey real quick? I'm curious of the precautions they take here. I wonder if it's different than the muggle contraceptives my sister takes." Lily says.

"Okay, why not."

Not sure where to go, I follow Lily to the Infirmary.

"Hello, my mother told me that you could tell me about proper protection?" I ask.

"Oh yes, you must me Miss Daphne. Why don't you two come into my office?"

Madame Pompfrey offers us some candy and seats. Both I take her up on.

"I'm actually very happy that you've taken an interest in knowing. Many witches don't care to think about the consequences of their actions, and many more don't even know of the contraception spell until it's too late. It's very simple actually. _Before_ you engage in sexual relations with your partner is when the spell should be spoken. It will only protect you one time. This means if you wish to have intercourse twice or more times in one night, you would have to redo the spell. Now, what you've probably been waiting for: the incantation is 'tarde infans!'. Also good to know is that the strength of this spell depends on the caster. Any questions?"

"Can the guy I'm with also cast the spell, or can it only be me?"

"He can too, as long you trust him enough."

"Thank you." I smile and Lily and I leave.

"So is it different than what your sister does?" I ask her.

"By far. She takes this teeny tiny pill every day while we can do this spell whenever!"

When we crawl through the barrels and climb over the furniture, we enter my room and sit in front of my vanity mirror. I give painstaking care to my makeup, wanting to look better than the boys have ever seen me and elongate my eyelashes. I then move to my hair. It's still semi-wet but that's good because it's more malleable. Putting the finishing touches on, I look at Lily to see what she has done.

"Wow, I wish I looked like you. I'm nothing in comparison." She sighs.

"Lils, don't say that. You know you're gorgeous. James has been after you and Sally and Mandy tell me all the time how their jealous of you."

She rolls her eyes.

_She won't ever get it. So many people love her. _Love_ her. And she can't open her eyes wide enough to see that._

There's a knock on the door and a head peaks in. It's Sally.

"Hey, I just got in and let James and Remus into the common room. I hope that's okay. Oh girls, they look scrumptious!"

I thank Sally and to tell her to let them know that we're almost done. She hops on out and closes the door behind her.

Taking that as a cue to begin dressing, Lily and I head to our packages delivered this morning. Lily helps me zip my Greek-inspired dress up and I assist her into her emerald green one. As she steps into her black heels, I put on my white peep-toe pumps. We're at the door when I stop her.

"Wait." I pull her hair out of its bun to let the glowing auburn hair cascade down to her shoulders. "Perfect." I smile.

She grabs my hand and we head on down. James and Remus are relaxing on one of the numerous couches, chatting. Annoyed that they missed our graceful entry, we clear our throats. But they don't turn around. She picks a chess piece up and throws it right at James' head, but he just rubs his head, looking confused. Giving up we plop down next to them.

"You're an idiot." Lily smiles.

"Your idiot." James tries to kiss her but she pushes him away and crosses her arms.

His eyes roam over her multiple times, head to toe. For once he's at a loss of words.

"Lily my sweet, I…wow."

"Thank you."

James comes to his senses and slaps Remus on the back of his head.

"Yeah Lily, you sure do." Remus nods in agreement.

_What am I, a Thestral?_

The two boys stand up and offer us their arms. Instead of placing my hand in the crook of his elbow, I interlace my fingers with his. Hand-in-hand we walk down the halls, Lily and James right behind us.

"It isn't pink!" Sirius greets once we walk in.

I laugh.

"Where's your date?" I ask him.

"Ah, getting a drink. She just showed up as I was leaving for Slughorn's. Can't say I know her name though." He scratches his jaw in thought.

I shake my head at him in wonder. Peter walks over to me.

"Well," he rakes his measly little blue eyes over my body, "it'll be my _pleasure_ to dance you with Corinne." He enunciates.

I smile but hold Remus' hand tighter, hoping he gets the message. Thankfully he does and leads me to the dance floor, placing his other hand on my hip. I put my free hand on his shoulder, trying to ignore the bolts of lightning his touch in striking in me.

"I can't say I like your friend too much." I say.

"Yes I know. He's harmless though." He pauses. "You do look beautiful tonight Corinne. I mean you do every other day too of course, but you look more beautiful than ever. You don't happen to be a Veela, do you? Or perhaps have one in your family?"

"A Veela? Not to my knowledge. But thank you. You look very handsome tonight yourself." I lean my head on him.

_Being compared to a Veela is, quite frankly for loss of a better term, awesome. No higher compliment have I heard about myself._

I breathe in his scent. It's clean and…woodsy. I drop my hands from his and wrap them around his neck. Remus' hands encircle my waist.

"You smell good too." I remark, intoxicated by his aroma.

Being so close to him, I feel his breathing quicken.

"This isn't a slow dance, but we happen to be dancing as if it was."

"Oh?" I can't get the scent out of my head, filling my lungs. "I like dancing like this."

"Hey you two!" Sirius exclaims, waking me from my stupor.

_Can always count on Sirius…_

_ …to ruin things._

I excuse myself to find a waiter and grab a drink. I spot the water and gulp it greedily. Not because I was downright thirsty, but because I wanted to somehow rid myself of my idiocy. Feeling composed, I refind Remus and dance more formally this time.

* * *

"You coming to our room? We're having an after party." James invites me after Slughorn's Party.

"Sure." I carry my shoes in one hand, my feet aching.

_I should've broken these in. Nevertheless tonight was amazing, getting to spend most of it in Remus' arms. I've never been around him so close before. It's a feeling I welcome with open arms and hope to get more of._

All of the boys plus Mindy – Sirius' date – and Lily and I walk to their room. Inside it's disgusting. It's smelly, dirty, and messy. But these _are_ boys we're talking about here. As we all file in, James searches under his bed for something.

"Let's see…where are those buggers…I know I have it…hmm…here we go!" James mumbles and slides out more alcohol than I can count. "Come and get some!" He offers to everyone.

_The hell with it, I'm young._

I follow Lily and the others and take a surprisingly cooled drink. They open it all with a spell and before anything more can happen, the four of them down their first bottle and reach for another.

_Wow, never pictured Remus as the drinking type. I get surprised everyday by him. _

Someone blasts music and the lot of us gathers on the floor in a circle.

"Let's play Truth or Dare!" Mindy says, excited.

The boys groan.

"That game is stupid." They complain.

"Then what do you suggest?" She asks, miffed.

It's quiet for a little.

"Ah fine, you start." Sirius speaks up.

"Hmm, okay. Sirius, truth or dare?" Mindy says.

"Dare." He smirks.

"I dare you to kiss me."

_Lame. She dares him that of all things? Why not tell him to lick a toilet seat or something?_

Their make-out session gets pretty heated when she starts to rub his nether regions. James knocks them on the head and they stop.

"Fine, fine. Lily, I dare you to-"

"But I want truth!" She protests.

"Truth is bloody stupid. I dare you to make-out with…Corinne. This'll be good. They're both hot." Sirius leans back, smug and ready for the show.

Lily kneels in front of me, giving me an apologetic look before leaning in. Her small lips lightly touch mine and she pulls back quickly.

"There." She primly gets up and goes back to her seat.

"That was the lamest thing in the world." "Pointless." "Not even worth it." The boys all mutter, not satisfied in the least.

"Let's do something else." James says.

"Fine. But can we change first? It's kind of uncomfortable in these dresses." Mindy asks.

"I agree." I back her up.

"Yeah, fine. Go dig around for clothes while I set up the drinking games." Sirius tells us.

James elbows Remus over to me, who staggers over either due to the alcohol or because of being pushed. James walks away whistling.

"Need some clothes?" he asks me.

"Sure!"

He nods and brings me over to his side of the room. He picks up a plain black shirt off the ground and hands it to me.

"Should be clean."

_Charming._

"Can you unzip me?" I turn around, facing the zipper towards him.

His cold fingers glide on my shoulder blades and down my back as he loosens the dress. Bold with each sip of drink I take, I turn back around and slowly peel my gown off, watching as his praising and pleased eyes travel with it. But not for too long because there are a lot of other people in the room. The alcohol warms my body, so the shirt, which reaches to my thighs, is plenty enough. He also gives me a pair of socks which I take. Sirius has us then sit back in a circle.

"How this game works is that everyone tells a short story about their summer. When a guy goes, if they mention a certain word or something, we chug the rum and firewhiskey for a good 7 seconds. Remus'll go first." Sirius then whispers to Lily next to him and tells her to pass it down. "But don't tell Remus! Anywho, when he finishes telling his story, he's going to guess what it was that we had to drink to. If he gets it wrong, he has to polish off a bottle. For girls, when they say something, we each remove an article of clothing. And then they guess. If wrong, they have to finish their bottle too."

For Remus, we chug each time he talks about a girl he met.

"Ready when you are mate." James raises his glass.

We all turn our attention towards him, the cool bottles clutched eagerly in excitement.

"Alright, well, this summer I went to my Uncles house. He brought me to this muggle strip joint in London. I think it was called Kocki, or at least something like that. There was this _really_ hot girl on one of those poles."

As he mentions the girl, we tip the bottles back. Not even 3 seconds went by and I was cringing from the taste. I couldn't last so I pretended to drink the rest for the 4 remaining seconds.

"She was in this gossamer night-thing you girls wear." He continues on. "Well she came and took me behind some curtains, into a room of sorts. Then this other girl came into the room and joined her in her activities."

We drink to this other girl. I last 4 seconds this time, faking the other 3.

"Okay mate. What were we drinking to?" Sirius asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He sits and thinks for a minute.

"Was it whenever I mentioned a girl?"

"Damn, even with alcohol you're bloody brilliant."

"I want to go!" Lily volunteers, leaning forward out of James' arm draped around her shoulders.

When we find that the drinking cue is when Lily mentions the word 'like', she begins.

"Okay, so this summer I went to my Grandma's for a little. She had this cute park by her house that muggle children were playing at. It was like something I remember playing on when I was younger."

I remove one sock.

_That should be good enough._

"Well when I got there, I realized that I actually did play on it when I was younger! I pushed the little ones on the swing and they would squeal in excitement. And that's my story." She finishes.

"What was the cue? And that was a terrible story." Sirius says.

"Um, was it when I mentioned muggles?"

"Sorry, mate. Not even close."

She sighs and James pats her back reassuringly. She just glares at him and downs the remnants of her bottle, burping afterwards.

The rest of the night was filled with laughter, more drinking, dancing, and kissing.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Ow, ow! Headache! I've never had one this bad before!_

My eyes crawl open, prompting the headache to wake up to its fullest power potential. I shut my eyes, hoping to quell the beast. No luck. The first thing I notice is that I'm only in my underwear and sleeping in Sirius' bed. With Sirius. Who's only in his boxers.

Very_ nice body. No! I shouldn't be thinking this! I should be more curious/worried about how I ended up this way!_

The room reeks of hard partying. Empty bottles are strewn _everywhere_.

_Oh wait, that stench is just Sirius' breath. _

Trying not to gag, I push him away and shakily get up. Lily is on the floor wrapped up in James' arms. Mindy is sleeping on James's bed with Peter while Remus is on his own. My stumbling around and kicking bottles accidentally awakens James.

"Morning." He mumbles, shielding his eyes.

"Morning." I groan out, my voice raspy.

"You sound terrible. But that's expected after how drunk you were last night."

"Yeah, I don't remember much. Can you help me get Lily back to her room?"

"Sure. You really don't remember _anything_?"

"Not really. After that story drinking game, the only thing I remember is doing body shots off of Lily.

_**Flashback:**_

**Sirius lays 3 shot glasses on Lily's porcelain skin.**

_** Good thing she isn't a random stranger.**_

** My mouth closes around the glasses and I pour the hot liquid down, my eyes burning. My tongue trails the line of liquid between each of the glasses.**

_**At least Lily put yummy smelling and tasty lotion on tonight.**_

** When I turn around, finished, all of the guys are staring.**

** "That image is going to be stuck in my head during the next session with my hand." James quipped, the other boys nodding in consent.**

** I roll my eyes.**

_**End Flashback.**_

James gets up and carries Lily in his arms. I pull my dress on and grab hers.

"I'll have to tell you about what happened. You'll like it. Remind me later though. My flower isn't as light as I thought." He huffs out.

I nod. We walk in silence to Lily's room. I don't feel like going to the extra mile to my room so when James leaves, I go to the closest bathroom to brush my teeth and soak in the tub to wash away the filth, but not before I sip a potion James gave me and Lily to relieve our hangovers. Walking into Lily's room, I feel ten times better, but still pretty terrible.

Today began Winter Break. We could leave at any time. Since Lily and I are heading for the same place, we're leaving together.

"Ugh." I hear her groan from her bed and hurry over.

* * *

_What did they take?_

Lily and I glare enviously over at the boys laughing and joking. We took that hangover potion James gave to us, both neither of us are that jovial. We drag ourselves over to them.

"Hey!" They welcome us warmly.

We mumble our greetings back.

"Ah, still not better?" James grins.

The both of us glare back. The train blows its warning whistle.

"Here, I'll help you with your things." Sirius offers, taking my luggage.

I follow him.

"So James tells me you have no recollection of last night." He says.

"Parts I remember."

"Well darling that's quite a shame for you. Ol' Moony boy and you hooked up."

My ears perk up and my body instantly rejuvenates itself. I stop walking in shock, then find myself jogging to catch up with Sirius.

"Wait, Sirius, really? Like really really?"

"Yeah, not too sure how it happened though. I look away for one second and the next thing I know you two are getting down and dirty."

_That's why I woke up nearly nude._

"Then James and I broke it up, deciding you were too drunk to know what you were doing. I carried you over to my bed and you were out in a synch." He continues on.

"Does he remember?"

Sirius scratches his head.

"Yeah, he does. I would let it go though. You were both drunk; not in your right minds."

My heart drops.

"Sure."

* * *

Lily and I managed to snag a compartment with the boys, in which us two slept the whole time. I woke up from my nap at one point during the ride but was too lazy to open my eyes. As I tried going back to sleep, I listened in on the Marauders' conversation. Fortunately for my ears, it was about me.

"Why don't you just ask her out Moony? You guys almost shagged last night for bloody sake!" Sirius whisper-exclaims.

_You have no idea how disappointed I am that I can't remember that for the life of me! Ugh!_

"She was drunk. She wouldn't feel that way if she wasn't. Besides, she probably didn't even mean it that way anyway. Girls become loose when they drink." Remus responds.

"Mate, you don't know that for sure! She likes you. It's bloody obvious to everyone. I've had so many blokes come up to me and ask if there was anything going on between the two of you because they wanted her." James chimes in.

"She's better off with them than me. If she found out about…you know, she'd run away. Any sane person would."

_This again. He mentioned something like this to the guys before, but what is he referring to? His hairy body? The fact the he misses school a lot? He can't help it if his aunt is sick._

"You know damn well Corinne wouldn't do that. But I doubt I'm going to convince you otherwise. She won't wait forever mate. Remember that. On a different note, how was the snog?" Sirius asks.

"Bloody amazing. I know you had to stop us, but I really wish you hadn't. She's so bloody perfect."

I could not have smiled any harder.

_Remus is the perfect man, not me._

The train whistle wakes us up and we follow the steps down to the Platform. I hug the boy's goodbye, promising to write and meet up at some point. Lily and I then see our moms waving enthusiastically and we go over to them.

_I've missed my parents._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Dear Lils,

I know it's only been one day so far, but I'm bored already. I came home last night floating on a cloud and this morning that cloud evaporated when mom woke me up early to do chores. Want to come over? Also, next Saturday my parents are leaving for a week. How about we invite the boys over then?

Love, Corinne

Dear Corinne,

I'll be right on over! My sister's being a horror. We can owl them we I get there.

Love, Lily

"Mom! Lily's coming over!" I yell a couple of seconds before the said girl rings our door bell that came with the house.

It's a muggle neighborhood, what are you going to do? We recently got the fireplace hooked up to the Floo Network. I race down the stairs, tripping over a random fluffy white cat that decided to take up residence in our house along the way. I named her Coconut. Coco glares at me so I pet her quickly to soothe her, feeling bad that I hurt her. I then throw the door open and give Lily a grand hug before dragging her to my room.

"I love your room! These are the times I wish I came from wizard parents so I could have some of the magical things you have!" She says in wonderment.

"I know, my mom did a great job decorating." I smile as we plop on my big feathery bed.

"I was thinking the other day about how we're so close to our final year at Hogwarts. I'm so nervous but excited. Have you been thinking about your plans and what you're going to do?" Lily asks.

"I'm all over the place with that. I would say I'm leaning towards becoming a Healer though. You?"

"An Auror. It's going to be extremely difficult, but definitely worth it. Plus, James and the boys are going that route too. But that's _not_ why I chose it. Don't be thinking that. It's just what I feel I'm meant to do."

There's a knock on my door, announcing my mom's entrance into the room. She looks like me – the build, face shape, hair – but my eyes come from my dad.

"I just thought you girls would be hungry, so I brought up some yummy treats that Bonky made." She sets the tray in-between us.

Bonky's our house elf. When my parents were out during the day working, Bonky raised me. She's truly the best and most selfless creature I've ever met. I learned many valuable lessons from her. My dad wanted to free her, but she wouldn't accept the new clothes, saying she enjoys what she does and would like to continue it. We've tried freeing her again and again, but she keeps turning us down.

"Thank you." Lily is the ever-polite girl.

Satisfied, my mom heads back out, closing the door behind her.

"Your mom is so cute!" Lily says.

I roll my eyes.

"So James. What's going on there?" I ask.

"Well. At some point during the night of the party the boys had, he and I sort of…you know."

"No, I don't! What?"

"Okay, I'm totally leading you on, sorry. We just talked one-on-one and it was really nice and we cuddled. The next time he asks me out, if he even does, I can't see myself turning him down."

"It's not an 'if', it's a 'when'." A huge smile creeps itself onto my face.

"And when I got home last night there was an owl waiting for me from him and he talked about Remus and you. James said he's at a loss of what to do. He thought for sure you two would hit it off at Slughorn's Party. But that obviously didn't work. He said for me to tell you that the best thing you can do at this point is to be honest with Remus and tell him how you feel. But he said they are still going to try something this break."

"Ugh, that's crummy advice. I'm not brave enough to do that."

"You are brave." She pushes me lightly. "See what happens when you have them over in a week. Try telling him then."

I sigh.

"Okay, I'll try. But first, I need to get some quills and parchment to write to them." I look around my room and spot it all laid out on my desk.


	9. Chapter 9

**The next two chapters are going to be short also (sorry about that). They're just short occurrences that happened during her Winter Break. They're also prewritten. After that though, I'll try to make them longer!**

Chapter 9

My mom and dad took me back home to the United States to see my friends. It was my favorite Christmas presents I got from them.

So here I am, waiting for them at our hangout place: the Elderflower. The café is in my old hometown, a place only for the magic community. Now I live in a mainly muggle neighborhood and have to take extreme precaution that I don't slip up and expose myself. I had more freedom and less responsibility here in good ol' America. But with the rise of He Who Must Not Be Named, my parents wanted to help take him down so we moved to England. Fortunately none of his followers have come to my neighborhood yet to torture and kill the muggles.

My parents are very brave and thoughtful people.

It's the middle of the day but Mr. Ratuspet, Elderflower's owner, lights the candles – the only source of lighting in this place. It's what gives it its charm. He likes to change the candles' scent depending on his mood or the weather outside.

As I sip on my hot chocolate, wiping the excess foam on my mouth off with my lips, and inhale Hollyberries on Mistletoe, three girls bumble in. I wait for them to notice me.

"Riri!" the taller of the 3 throws her arms up and hugs me so hard that I swear a hippogriff slammed into me instead.

"Oh I've missed you guys so much!" I hug Brie back just as hard.

Darla and Janet push Brie out of the way and squeeze me. Once we calm down, they order their drinks and join me at the table.

"So are you actually going to tell this Remus boy how you feel?" Darla jumps right to the point.

I've been keeping in contact with them ever since I moved, owling them once a week at least.

"I don't know. It's a pretty ballsy move. I mean I know he likes me, but it's just the getting-the-confidence-to-tell-him part that's hard." I confess.

"If you don't tell him, I'll snatch him for myself. From the way you describe him, he sounds like a real prize." Brie says.

"That's because he is. He has no flaws that I've noticed, other than his room being disgusting. But he's _really_ smart and you know that's always been my number one must for a boy." I reply.

"It sounds like you've already made up your mind about Remus. _When_ you tell him, remember to be sober. Alcohol is the easy way out." The ever-wise Janet says while trying to tame her frizzy hair.

"Unfortunately you're right." I grimace to Janet. "But enough about that. Tell me about you guys. Janet told me that you're learning how to conjure your Patronus's. Why is it that the year I leave, you all finally start to learn useful things!"

"You're one to talk! You're learning more than us, all the while living in a beautiful, majestic castle. Besides, you said in your letters that you're learning the Patronus Charm also." Brie retorts.

"We are. It's taking a while though. Are you guys having difficulties too?" I ask, hoping I wasn't the only one.

Remus and the boys already mastered it the third day of trying in class. He even offered to give me lessons, which I if course took him up on, but I've been so distracted paying attention to him that I can't even cast the easy non-corporeal form. It's quite embarrassing.

"Big time. Even Brainiac Janet can't cast one." Janet glares at Darla. "I'm pretty sure it's our teacher's fault though. Mr. Wilkens never knows what he's doing. I don't even know why he was hired."

"Stop! _Mr. Wilkens_ is teaching it? You guys are _never_ going to get it now!" I laugh at them. "Hey, do you remember our first year we had him and the Dean came in to observe and he stumbled over his words so bad that he only managed to get out a few sentences the _entire_ class? Physical Examination was _the worst_. I can barely fly on a broomstick because of him!"

The next couple of hours we spend rehashing old memories, gossiping, and making future plans to see each other. When my parents try to join in and hang out with us four, I know it's time to go. I side-apparate with my dad and jump right into my covers. Just as I'm about to blow the candles out and tuck Coconut into bed with me, a pecking sound is heard on my one window. I open it and in swoops frost and a black owl. I take the letter out of his clutches and read it as the owl and Coco start a dance of fighting.

The letter is from Remus. All it says is that he can come and that he can't wait to see me.

"This is perfect. Until then I'll work on my sober confidence, hopefully getting Lily to help me."

I snuggle into my covers, anxious but happy.

_Never did I think I would gain this amazing new life when I moved here._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Sweetie, are you sure you don't want to come with your father and I tomorrow?" my mom asks, putting her hand over my father's.

"No!" I respond quickly, and then try to cover my tracks. "I-I mean, I'm sure it's been a while since you two went on a vacation without me."

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Won't you be bored and lonely? Why don't you have Lily sleepover? And then maybe you guys can invite Petunia over too. Rose is always saying how she rarely sees Petunia with any friends. She says her boyfriend – I think his name is Ferdinand or, or Vernon maybe – does take her out on dates, but other than that she rarely gets out of the house to have some fun. It'll be nice of you to invite her. Plus, Petunia is home from London for the holidays but Rose wants her to visit more often. That's why inviting her to do things and making friends with her is _another_ good idea." She starts to clean the dinner table with Bonkys help.

"I'm having people stay over already, but I can see if Petunia wants to come." I say begrudgingly.

"Boys?" my dad asks me.

"Yesss, but Lily's going to be there too so you needn't worry."

"I don't know Aly, maybe we should stay home. Did you know that boys are coming?"

"I trust our daughter Phil, as should you."

My dad huffs and puff. I roll my eyes at the two of them and owl Lily to come over.

* * *

"Did you want anything to eat?" I ask her as I pour some hot tea into two floral glass cups.

"No thanks. I've barely eaten anything all day. Tomorrow is the first time I'm hanging out with James outside of school. I'm just anxious." Lily says.

"You've really never seen him outside of Hogwarts?" I ask in disbelief.

She shakes her head.

"In the past he's always owled me to come over to his house or go to Diagon Alley or something, but I usually just ignored those letters."

"Well not anymore." I grin at her. "My parents want me to invite Petunia to hang out with us tomorrow." Lily grimaces. "That was my reaction too. Do you think she'll come though?"

"I love Tuney and everything, but she hates having anything to do with magic. I'll still ask her though."

"I doubt we'll be using magic for anything anyways."

"That doesn't matter to Tuney; it's the association that bothers her. She and I used to be so close before I went off to Hogwarts and now she rarely talks to me because she fears she'll somehow be associated with magic."

"Maybe you could just _not_ tell her that these boys are from school. Make up a story of how we met them and it should be fine. Maybe she could bring her boyfriend too!" I suggest.

"I'll try that. Thanks for trying to make her welcone." She smiles and looks around. "Did you finish all that school work the Professors gave to us? It's like they don't want us to do anything else over break! Usually I'm okay with that because I huddle up in my room and do the work and everything, but now I kind of have a life."

"I know. Thankfully though I got it done earlier this week. All I have left is a 2 foot Ancient Runes essay on the hieroglyphics found in some cave, transcribe the meaning, and relate it to some culture."

"You're further ahead than me! I haven't started _anything_. I've become such a slacker! I blame you – I've been hanging out with you too much." She teases.

"Well then!" I laugh. "So…want to help me clean for tomorrow?"

"Sure, the only other option for me is doing that crummy schoolwork."

The next 2 ½ hours Lily and I ensure that every nook and cranny is cleaned of cobwebs and dust. I invite her to stay the night and she agrees at first, but then decides that she should probably start her work for school. I wave goodbye to her as she hurries back through the cold, nippy air to her to warm home."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

My mom and dad left hours ago so Lily came over. We set up the guest rooms, helped Bonky make some food, and are now reclining next to the fireplace, its crackling sound mere background noise to our conversation. I wiggle my toes closer to the fire and lay my head down on the blue couch adjacent to Lily's.

"-and when I asked Tuney she called me a freak and you a weirdo. 'Why would I ever want to hang out with a freak and a weirdo?' were her exact words she said to me through her door crack."

"Um, because we're supercool witches?" I say.

"I tried coercing her with the promise of food and boys, but that got her madder, claiming that I was calling her fat and ugly. 'I can get boys on my own, thank you. In fact, Vernon is coming over and taking me out. Isn't that nice of him? At least I'm wanted, unlike _you_.' At that point I gave up."

"I've always wanted a sibling; although what you're telling me is making me think twice. They could be older and I would look up to them as they guide me through life, or they could be younger and I would spoil them rotten. Of course, if they were younger I'd want them to be a baby forever because once they learn how to talk, the cuteness level drops below freezing." I laugh. "I must have been the most obnoxious and annoying kid there ever was. No way would I want to deal with me. It was tantrum central. My poor parents."

"I loved Tuney when I was younger. We were the best of friends, staying up all night just talking and going on trips together. This one time my dad took all of us hiking. I was about 6 so Tuney was 7 or 8. I fell and slipped on a rock and scrapped my knee pretty bad. Well, Tuney carried me the whole way down the mountain and shouted at people to move as I was injured. Then she took care of my knee. 'I don't want you to get an infection. You could die and I don't ever want to lose you. You're the best sissy ever.' She would say this over and over again. But then we grew up and look where we are now. She moved away from little, old Cokeworth to great, big London. And that's where she met that dreadful Vernon Dursley."

"Is he really _that_ bad?"

"Oh Cori, if only you could _see_ him." Lily shifts her head to look at me, horrified. "He's this-this big, beefy, purple-faced man! He sneers at my clothes and _all_ he talks about is money. That bloody man is obsessed with it! When Tuney had him over to dinner to meet us, he would order her around. He's a bully and I told Tuney this."

"Uh-oh."

"'Uh-oh' exactly. We had this huge row. I just care for her so much and know she deserves better. She shouldn't have to downgrade to that lump of potatoes. If she marries Vernon…" Lily trails off. "I honestly don't know what I'd do. I wouldn't want to stop talking to her, but I just can't _stand_ him! What do you think?"

"I would just be there for her. People can't help who they fall for or like. She already knows you disapprove of him, so there's no need battering it into her head more – that'll just drive her away even further. Be there to listen. If she knows you love and care about her, there's nothing more she could possibly want. And, most importantly, if she ever asks you for advice, then give it. To give advice just because you want to is futile and most certainly _not_ wanted."

"That's what my mom said when I complained to her! I-"

Lily is cut off when James bursts through the fireplace, followed by three other boys.

"Ow!" "Hot!" "Bloody hell!" They all exclaim.

"Don't you think you could've put the fire on _after _we came?" Sirius asks, irritated.

I laugh.

"Sorry." I get up and greet them. "I've missed you guys. Writing just isn't the same as seeing you."

Suddenly I hear a scraping of paws. Coconut peeks her head into the room but then runs away.

"Stupid cat." Sirius mutters.

"I know that cat! That was the Gadget's cat, the owners who lived here before you. They must've forgotten their cat."

"Yeah, and she won't leave either, so we just take care of her. I kind of like her actually."

"I hate cats." Sirius states.

"That much is obvious. I'm pretty sure you scared her off, so please excuse me as I go give her some treats."

I head to the kitchen where I see Bonky kneeling to pet the cat.

"Do you know where Coco's treats are?" I ask the house elf.

"Yes miss. Please let me get them for you." Bonkey hands me the food and I bend down to feed it to the cat who laps them up happily. "I hear guests miss. Can I bring out some food and drinks for everyone to enjoy?"

"Go ahead, boys are always hungry."

"Your father told me to watch you and the boys closely miss."

"I'm sure he did." I smile, picturing my dad distressed. "But don't worry too much. I can handle myself."

"Yes miss." Bonky bows her head and pops out of the room with the food and drink, reappearing only moments later.

I walk back out to my living room and see the boys have a game set up.

"What're we playing?" I ask, sitting down beside Remus.

I gaze into his midnight blue eyes, twinkling quietly with their usual mischievousness. His light brown hair is in slight disarray, as if he just woke up; the gray flecks making him seem older than he really is.

_Well, he's definitely the most mature out of the group._

He has these small scars on his face that make him even more unique. Even more handsome. I get lost in staring at him. I didn't realize just how much I missed Remus until just now, seeing him again.

Lily kicks me under the table, waking me from my haze of longing.

"-poker. My Uncle Ted is a muggle-born and he taught me this game. Do you two girls know how to play this? I taught Peter, James, and Remus a while back." Sirius asks.

Lily nods so I do too. How hard can poker be anyway?

Sirius deals out cards from the deck while I chose a mini-sandwich and drink.

"That your house elf?" Sirius asks.

"Yep! Bonky's the best!" I say cheerfully. "Do you have one?"

"_Had_. Although they were never that well-dressed and plump."

I don't know what's going on around me. People are 'folding' and 'raising' and 'betting'.

"I bet a sock." James says.

"Two socks." Peter says.

"I bet three socks!" I cry out.

They all look at me.

"No one's wearing three socks." Remus whispers.

I look at him confused.

"We're playing strip-poker." He clarifies.

_Ooh. Okay. That makes sense now._ _Damn it, I should've told them that I have zero idea how to play. Now I'm going to lose and strip down to nothing. Maybe if I peek over at Lily's…..nope! She just turned her cards away from me. _

I lean over to my right next, trying to peek at Remus' hand. I must not be slick or something because he catches me too.

"Just stretching." I reassure him.

"Definitely believable."

"How about you Corinne? Fold or raise?" James asks.

_Well, fold sounds like a bad thing so…_

"I raise you two socks and a skirt…or, er trousers in your case."

Everyone sighs and folds but James. He arches his eyebrow.

"Show 'em." He nods to my cards.

I lay them out for him to see and he shows me his, grinning from ear to ear.

_I have zero clue what these cards are telling me._

"Sorry sweets, but it seems as if you lose. Go ahead." James leans back in his seat.

_What?_

"Your clothes." Lily whispers to me.

_Oh, right. The future of this game is already looking good for me. At least I made sure to wear cute things today._

I peel off my skirt and socks, the guys looking at me. I'm comfortable with my body so don't find it a big deal. It's just Peter's eyes that are creeping me out. They're just so small. Plus the bald spot really kills any kind of possible attraction. I invited him because I thought that it would be cruel to leave him out and I wanted to give him another chance, maybe befriend him. If James, Remus, and Sirius like him, so should I. Shouldn't I?

"Okay, so do we start the next round?" I ask the Marauders, snapping them back to reality.

"Yeah, yeah. James can deal." Sirius says, licking his lips. "Mmm, mmm. If only."

Remus' hands are twitching as he looks at me.

_Well good. I got the reaction I wanted. I'm just not going to let my eyes wander over to Peter._

The game begins again. James takes two new cards, Peter is pleased with the hand he is dealt and only takes one card, Remus folds and then it's my turn.

_Well, I have three 10's. I'll take more cards to see if I can get an even four!_

"I'll have two." I say to Sirius.

He gives me the cards and I rearrange them, organizing it from the lowest number to the highest. I look up to see them still staring at me.

"Fork 'em over sunshine." Sirius says

"You have to give him two cards in return." Lily whispers again. "Quid pro quo."

_Oh._

I pick out the two I don't need and put them in the discard pile. Two more rounds go off and it's me against Peter.

"I bet a shirt." He says while slimily looking me over.

_Should I fold or raise him? Are my cards any good?_

"I raise you to everything." I take a chance and follow my gut.

Everyone is silent. The only sound I hear is the music Lily put on and Coco purring.

Peter clears his throat. We show each other our hands. People start to laugh and high-five me.

_I think I just won that round._

Then Peter starts to take his clothes off.

_Or not. Barf!_

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you've never played poker before." Remus says close to my ear, low enough for no one else to hear.

I shake my head, embarrassed.

"It was pretty obvious, huh?"

"Yeah." He chuckles. "If you want, you can join in on my hand. I wouldn't mind your help." He offers kindly.

I smile real big and move my chair closer to his, my peach skin touching his clothed thigh. Sirius goes back to being the dealer and raises his right eyebrow at us, smirking simultaneously. When Remus gets the cards, he puts his arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer so that I'm able see the cards too.

"What do you think?" his warm breath encases my ear and cheek.

I put his cards in numerical order for him, wanting to contribute something.

"Looks better now." We grin at each other.

"Let's see. We have two threes, a queen, a jack, and a nine. Do you think we should get rid of the threes and hope for a 10 and an 8? Or maybe get three other nines to pair with the jack? Or…" Remus goes on and on but I tune him out.

_I know he's trying to help me understand the game, but this is another thing that I'll probably never be successful at. Like that stupid Patronus Charm._

"You should go with the first idea. The-the 10 and 8." I say.

"I'll take 2." Remus drops the two threes and takes new cards from Sirius.

He didn't get anything exciting in this hand. At least, not the cards we wanted. We go around the circle twice, asking for one card the first time to throw them off, then two cards the second time.

We look at each other grinning.

"Doesn't mean we win though." He says.

"Why not? We have the cards, so why not?"

"People could have better hands than us."

"Oh."

_The whole game Remus and I have been having our own secret conversation, whispering to each other. His hand has travelled down my shoulder to around my waist, my bare legs draped over his. It doesn't hurt that I've been flirting real hard too, receiving the same affection back from him. This makes it easier to tell him how I feel. Now if only I could think of when…_

"You guys could've met Lily's sister Petunia today." I say as Sirius contemplates his next move.

"If she wasn't going out with that dastardly boyfriend of hers. I hope he never becomes my brother-in-law." Lily spits out.

"Hey! I want to meet my future sister and maybe-brother-in-law!" James grins at her.

Lily shoots happy faces his way.

"I fold." Says Peter, grumbling over his cards.

I forgot that he was completely naked and almost choke to death at his body. I know I should be accepting of others, but I'm sorry – that's taking it too far.

_His skin is shriveled and ick! I just have to stop thinking about it._

Lily folds her cards too.

That leaves it down to Remus and me, James, and Sirius. This'll be a tough one. Those boys are competitive. They stare real hard into each other's faces as they place bets, trying to figure out who's lying about their hands. Sirius and James then turned their gazes toward me since I'm probably easier to read than Remus. Remus takes his hand off my waist and covers my face so they can't look at me.

_Am I _that_ obvious?_

The clothing bet has come to socks, pants, and a shirt. They decide to take a chance and to show the cards. Sirius and James let out a large breath or air, sighing sadly.

I look up into those blue eyes I've come to cherish. He's all smiles so I know we bested them. Remus is beaming at me with pride and I'm just so happy at this point that I give him a sweet, chaste kiss on the cheek.

"Oy. Cut it out you two." Sirius growls as he undresses.

Suddenly Lily gasps.

"Look! It's snowing!" She says, turning everyone's attention to the windows collecting the night's snowy innocence.

I horridly put my clothes back on, slam my feet into shoes by the door, and swing the damn thing open. There's about 2 inches on the ground already. How we didn't notice before is beyond me – probably too busy trying to see each other's bodies. The heavy white substance falls, creating a winter wonderland. The evergreen tree branches lean and sigh as the powder piles up. It's easy to get lost in it, forgetting about the icy, biting breeze. Lily and I hurry out, the boys not too far behind us. Lily lies down in the snow and spreads her arms and legs.

"What're you doing?" I laugh at her craziness.

"Making snow angels! Come on!" She gives me her hand and pulls me down beside her.

In the background I can still hear the music emanating from my house. My clothes are damp and I will probably suffer a cold later on, but today was beyond what I could've wished for. This is the perfect topper to it. I open my mouth and catch the mystical magic that is snow on my tongue, turning the solid into a liquid in less than a second. When I sit up, Remus has his hand out for me to take.

"They're called snow angels!" I laugh as he pulls my close.

My heart rolls around and flips.

"Remus, I-Ilikeyou." I say, knowing this is the perfect moment.

He smiles and kisses me.

The enchanting sparkling chrysalis spills around us as his pink lips I dreamed about since my first day of school crashes onto mine in tender bliss. Holding me tight, he kisses right down to my soul. With a kiss this great, it's a wonder how I remember doing body shots but not hooking up with Remus. I put my hand around his head and he grips my cheek, bringing me even closer.

"Bloody hell, come on! We want to have a proper muggle snowball fight and you both are needed!" Sirius interrupts.

I'm up for ignoring Sirius completely, but Remus gives me a few short kisses more and takes my hand, leading me to the group.

"And here I brought mistletoe for no reason." James says, drawling it out of his pockets.

_Mistletoe? _That_ was his plan? Actually…that might've worked…_

James puts the mistletoe between him and Lily but she pushes him away before he can lean in any closer.

_Oh James, ever the romantic._

"So here's how it goes, Peter joins you two girls, and that's that. We'll have 10 minutes to build a fort, and then when I say so, we can start." James says.

"When _you_ say so James?" Lily asks.

"No, no. When _you_ say so my Lily Flower." James corrects himself.

_She should've corrected him about Peter, not that._

* * *

We spend the next three hours out in the snow, combating in a snowball fight and creating a snow family. Remus and I snuck kisses here and there. Now we're all back inside, drying by the fire. I'm cuddling up with Remus while the others lounge around us. He rubs my arms up and down, trying to warm me up.

_He's so sweet and I'm so lucky._

I lean back and he leans his head down, rubbing noses with me before placing his chapped lips against my soft, plush ones. I sigh and smile into the kiss, in a state of utter bliss. Sirius is talking but we ignore him and continue on. Until he starts to hit me that is.

Sirius – the man who knows how to ruin perfect moments.

"What?" I ask, not at all pleased to be interrupted.

_In fact…_

I lean in to Remus again.

Then he hits me. Again.

"Alright, we get it you two. Now listen to me. I was thinking when we go back about which pranks to pull." Sirius begins and I tune out.

I stroke Remus' arm securely placed around me. I can feel the quiet beating of his heart, lulling me to sleep after the eventful day.

_Bump, ba-dump, bump, ba-dump, bump, da-dump, bump…_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_I can't believe I overslept. First day back to Hogwarts and what do I do? Oversleep. Why is it that Mandy and Sally chose not to wake me up this one day out of the rest? I'll ask them in class._

I rush to Herbology, my books and supplies for class teetering dangerously out of my arms, my stomach growling at me.

_I didn't even have breakfast. I'm pretty sure these are bad omens._

I slip into my seat next to Lily, earning me a glare from Professor Sprout and 10 points being taken away from the Hufflepuffs for being late.

"If you did the work I assigned over break, you all should be ready for the Venomous Tentacula today. If you would, please follow me to the greenhouses." Professor Sprout continues to talk as we walk behind her. "You all should partner up for this as two sets of hands will be needed. As I have this dangerous plant in different warehouses, I shall separate you up among them." She stops and, once we pair up, she gives us each a different greenhouse number, ranging from 3 to 6.

Lily and I were put in greenhouse 4 along with Sally and Mandy and two boys I don't know the name of.

"One of the pairs will inspect the leaves to make sure it is healthy. If not, there should be some dragon dung fertilizer in each greenhouse brewed thoughtfully by Professor Slughorn."

_He didn't brew that, we did before we left for break! It was repulsive too. _

"Using the fertilizer will make it healthy once more. Now, the other partner is to extract the Tentacula's juice. I only wish for a cups worth and it will come out clear like the water you drink. I probably shouldn't have to be reminding you all this, but one bite from the Venomous Tentacula will kill you. Be on the lookout for its free-moving vines and give it a hard slap if it starts to act out. I'll be around to each warehouse checking up on everyone. You can go to your task now."

Greenhouse 6 is smaller than the others. There was a small mushroom patch growing in the dead center, flowers are scattered all over, still in bloom due to the greenhouses atmosphere, and hedges are formed around the 6 corners of the room. The Venomous Tentaculas peek out over those neatly trimmed hedges, staring at us like recently acquired prey. We each go to our separate corners, cautiously.

"Been a while since I've seen you." I say sarcastically to Lily.

"Yes, it has been a while since you emerged from your boyfriends lips." She quips back. "It's leaves aren't its naturally olive green color. I'm going to go get some of the fertilizer; will you be alright if I leave you on your own with it?"

"Sure!"

"Did I just hear that you have a boyfriend Corinne?" Mandy asks from her corner.

Since the greenhouse is a small one, she doesn't have to shout for me to hear her.

"Yes." I reply to her.

"And _when _were you going to tell us? You see Sally, _this_ is why I wanted to take her up this morning but no, you said since she look exhausted last night that we should just let her sleep in. Last time I'm listening to you! So who is it? Who's the boy?"

"Remus."

I hear Sally and Mandy gasp loudly and drops some tools.

"_The_ Remus Lupin? As in Remus from the Untouchables?" Sally asks.

I give my Tentacula a large slap, reminding it to behave. It glowers at me.

"Yes him." Lily says returning. "Can you watch it as I pour the fertilizer in its soil?"

I nod.

The Venomous Tentacula tries to capture Lily twice with its vines, but I shout at it, grabbing it's attention for a short while. The blue potion seeps into the soil, making a steaming hissing sound, the Tentacula momentarily distracted in pleasure. I use this distraction to quickly extract exactly one cup of its clear liquid, sealing the vial as soon as I've gained that much. On it I write the greenhouse number and the plants location, just as Professor Sprout told us to.

Speaking of which, the said woman walks into the room.

"How's it going over here?" She ponders over to us.

"We have just finished." Lily informs her.

"Good. You make excellent partners. Makes up for your tardiness this morning Miss Daphne. Perhaps the both of you would like to help out the others?" She inquires.

We split up, me going over to help my roommates and Lily to the two boys. Mandy and Sally are sure having trouble. They better be thankful that this hedge hid them from Professor Sprout and that I got done early so I could help them.

"How about yo-" I begin to suggest but get cut off by Sally.

"Are you going to introduce us to him?"

"Haven't you guys met before? So it looks like Ma-"

"Yes, but we still want to be introduced. Maybe one of the boys would want me." Mandy says.

"Okay, I will, but let's focus on the task at hand." I slap their Tentacula as it leers over to Mandy. "It looks like Mandy has the vile in her hands so as she extracts its juice, we have to distract it. And Sally, after she's done with that Mandy and I will distract it as you check its leaves out." They each go to say something but I hold my hand up. "If it has anything to do with Remus, later."

They mope but we manage to complete the job quickly, working together as a team. As they high five and congratulate themselves, I slip out, wanting to avoid their questions and probing. The bell rings just in time and I head to the library after I hand Professor Sprout the vial I collected from the plant.

"You did very well Miss Daphne. If you still wish to be a Healer, I dare say you'll be an excellent one. The ability to stay calm in the face of danger is one of the many attributes to the profession, as is teamwork. You have shown both wonderfully today working with the Venomous Tentacula." She says to me as I'm about to leave.

"That's very kind of you Professor. I'm glad you think that." I say, humbled.

She dismisses me and I bounce to the library. I guess those bad omens were false after all. I sit at the table I found my first day here. It just so happens that the sweet nook I fell in love with and come to everyday is surrounded by books on medicine, containing information on various spells, potions, and plants. I whip open my notebook and turn to the first page where I wrote on the first day the assignments Professor Sprout told us was going to be due throughout the year. I have almost all of them crossed out, 10 assignments left. I'm three months ahead, finishing everything due until April. I start on the next item on my list – Snargaluff pods. I find six books on the topic. I have a lot of time to complete this so I might as well do the best I can, hence the reason for picking 6 books. I go through each of them and mark important points and information. When the bell rings for next class, I have just begun on my essay. I pack up my books and walk to Potions.

Peter is sitting at our table, patiently waiting for me. He already got the ingredients needed to make the potion out and lined them up carefully.

_That's actually really sweet. I think I misjudged him._

"Good morning Peter." I smile as I drop my stuff off and sit down.

"Morning Corinne." He blushes.

_Aw._

"I see you got everything we need to make the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. Wormwood, Shrivelfig, Porcupine Quills, and Castor Beans. This is going to be a great potion. Before break Professor Slughorn said that the color should be a sunshine-y yellow color. It'll be better than those nasty puke-colored potions we've been brewing recently." I say, initiating conversation with him for the first time since...well, ever really.

He nods enthusiastically. The Professor enters the classroom moments later and reviews the potion before telling us to start. I open my copy of Advanced Potion-Making and turn to the Elixir's chapter. With the purple Shrivelfig clasped in my hand, I squeeze it until its purple liquid ceases to drip into a glass jar anymore. I gently pour it into the potion, waiting for the concoction to turn a turquoise color. Once it does, I slowly stir it until it turns blue. As I wait for it to simmer to a yellow color, I notice that Peter is as useless as a partner as Sirius, who's dosing off. I catch Remus' eye and he shrugs.

"Hey Peter?" I turn and ask.

"Yes?" He responds quickly.

"Do you want to be partners with Sirius from now on?"

"Why sure."

"Good. Go on over to Remus and tell him of your decision. Remus will be my partner."

_It's a win-win for me._

Peter scrambles over and moments later my boyfriend comes to me smirking.

"Clever but evil." He kisses me before adding porcupine quills to the potion I started.

We work collectively for the rest of class, reaching success and gaining House points to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in the process. Meanwhile, Sirius and Peter to our right fumble around and manage to make their concoction explode twice. I would be a nice friend and go assist them, but Remus' lips distract me, making me forget about anything and anyone. Class ends and we go to lunch. I separate from them, wanting to eat lunch with Mandy and Sally.

"Alex!" I say, surprised to see him.

He looks up, smiles, and scoots down to make room for me.

"Hey, how was your break?" He asks.

"Wonderful. You?"

"Could've been better. It's good to be back. I missed Hogwarts…and certain people in it."

"I know _exactly_ what you mean." I grin.

"Do you?" He asks, shocked but pleased.

"Sure! I mean, I missed you." I answer truthfully.

"That makes two of us."

Someone kicks me under the table. I look and see it was Sally.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She waits until Alex carries on a conversation with some boy next to him.

"You have a boyfriend now." She hisses out.

"I know. I haven't forgotten."

_ How thick does she think I am?_

Sally shakes her head.

"Well you must've if you keep flirting with Alex." She says.

"Oh, Sally, I wasn't." I continue eating.

"Didn't look that way to me. You may mean for it to be innocent, but Alex sure doesn't."

"I think you're confused. Alex doesn't see me as more than a friend. Look…why don't we continue this in our dorm where we have more privacy?" I glance around at all the listening ears.

"Fine. I'm just letting you know. From an outsider's point of view."

"I know. And thank you for that." I say, not wanting to fight with her.

"Hey Corinne, come set the record straight. Who founded Quidditch?" Alex asks as his friends stare at me, expecting the answer to roll off my tongue.

"Um." I scoot closer to them and notice there is a book open that they're all sharing.

"This book is giving us two different answers and we're split." He explains.

"I move even closer and peer at the book, silently reading it. The book makes it seem as if-"

Suddenly I get wrenched out of my seat by a very unhappy Remus. He tugs me out of Alex's arm that I had no clue was around me and pulls me away so quickly that I can only manage a wave goodbye to Alex.

"What's going on?" I say to Remus on the way to the library, him still dragging me. "Rem? What's the matter?"

He doesn't answer so I try to stop and pull on his arm. He pauses and looks at me, ashamed. I stroke his arm, hoping to comfort him.

"What's wrong Rem?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that git Alex was making moves on you and I guess I lost it." His eyes flash in anger.

"Oh no, not you too."

He looks at me confused.

"Sally was saying the same thing. You have nothing to worry about, he's just a friend."

"Yeah, a friend who wants more." He scoffs. "I can recognize the signs. I did the same things he did to get you."

"And you have me now." I hug his, putting my chin on his chest as I gaze into his eyes. "I don't want him, I want you. So his "plan" isn't going to succeed."

"I'll make bloody damn sure of it." Remus slams his mouth onto mine in passion and fury.

I laugh and he quirks his eyebrow.

"When I met you you were so shy and quiet. Wrong!"

He pinches my butt.

"Oy! There you two are. I've been waiting for you. Well, Remus, not you Corinne." Sirius strides over to us.

_Figures._

"What's up Padfoot?"

"Apparently you've forgotten that we have class right now." Sirius says.

"I thought you guys had break with me?" I say.

"Oh yeah. James, Sirius, Lily and I signed up for Apparation classes. It's only offered after Winter Break and we decided to take it this year instead of next." Remus says.

"Huh?" I reply, still confused.

"It's only offered to those students who are seventeen or will turn seventeen during the school year. I'm already seventeen so I was definitely going to enroll. Why not get ahead?" Sirius states.

"That means I'll have to take it next year." I pout.

"Don't worry, Peter's taking it then too." Remus tries to reassure me.

"Wait, if you're already seventeen…" I say to Sirius. "_That's_ how you guys won the snowball fight. You used magic. That's not fair."

"Uh, well, I need to get to class before it's not too late." Remus and Sirius trot off quickly.

* * *

"Am I not holding my wand right or something?" I ask Remus, attempting my Patronus again in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"It's not that. What you're deciding to focus on isn't strong enough. It has to be extremely powerful, the happiest memory you have."

"Well, let me try thinking of something else."

"Let it fill you up." Remus says.

I close my eyes. Since laughing with my friends in the States and thinking of my family didn't help, I decide to let my mind roam over Remus.

_Might as well give it a try. Couldn't hurt._

I reminisce on that dark, snowy night when they were all over at my house. Remus pulling me close as we worked together in poker, making snow angels outside with Lily, admitting to Remus that I like him and our subsequent kiss, cuddling by the fireplace…

"Expecto Patronum."

A body hugs me from behind.

"You're doing it." Remus' voice whispers in my ear.

I open my eyes and see a pure white glow in the otherwise dreary classroom.

"What-is that a butterfly?" I ask my boyfriend.

"Yep."

"My Patronus is a butterfly. Yours is so much bigger! It was a stupid werewolf and I get this small, dainty butterfly. Jeez."

"Doesn't mean it's any less powerful. Besides, shouldn't you be _happy_ you were able to conjure one?"

"I guess." I say, still not pleased.

"Good things come in small packages. At least I'm told. I don't have one." He sticks his chest out pompously.

I roll my eyes.

"You don't have one at all? I don't know how we can seal the deal then." I tease.

"That's not what I meant!" He says hastily and I laugh.

Remus answers my joke with a playful glare.

"Now you can just work on casting the spell quickly and faster and possibly even creating more than one butterfly."

"Sounds like fun. Oh well, at least it means more time with you." I turn around in his arms and rake my nails up and down his chest.

He gives me a predatory look, kind of like the one the Venomous Tentacula was giving me but not quite the same. The Tentaculas aim was to kill me, but Remus' is different, way different.

"At least since I'm learning new things you don't have to worry about me not being able to protect myself from You-Know-Who." I smile and say.

"I'm _more_ worried now." Remus replies.

"But I'm improving!"

"It's not that." He sifts his hand through his messy hair.

"What is it then?" My innocent, naïve eyes search his for answers.

"Ah Miss Daphne." The Professor remarks before Remus can say anything.

We pull away from each other and straighten ourselves before the Professor.

"I just wanted to congratulate you being able to correctly cast the Patronus Charm. It just shows that hard work, dedication, and practice can accomplish much."

"Oh. Thank you."

_Today _really_ wasn't a bad omen day. What's with the professors and their compliments recently? Not that I mind._

"Now, I heard you complaining about yours being small and therefore less powerful. I wish to assure you that is not the case. Symposia Rawle's Patronus was even littler than yours – it being a ladybug – but it was very powerful indeedl. Another example was Illyius's. His was a weak-looking mouse and he was teased very much about it. However, when a Dark wizard invaded his village, that weak-looking Patronus proved to be stronger than anyone else's in that town. Please don't fall to the belief that yours is less powerful than say Remus's. Good things come in small packages."

"I've heard that saying before. Thank you Professor and I won't."

"I've found that those who _do_ cast butterflies bring joy and happiness wherever they enter. To use a muggle expression, they wear their heart on the sleeve of their top. These castors are rarely found in dull clothing from what I've noticed on my Hogsmeade trips. Fresh, warm, and full of sweetness." He continues on.

_Yeah. I don't think that's me._

"That's very informative Professor and very kind of you to take time to tell me. I appreciate it."

Class ends and that means dinner time!

_I sure am hungry. That Patronus Charm really takes a lot out of me._

I try to walk over to the Hufflepuff table, but Remus is holding my hand too tight for me to break out of and he guides me to the Gryffindor table.

"I want to eat with my House." I say.

He just looks at me with a blank, uncaring expression.

"You're being ridiculous! Don't you trust me?"

"Yes. It's Alex I don't trust." Remus looks over at the blonde boy.

Not wanting to cause a big fight or a scene in the middle of the Great Hall, I comply.

"Don't think you're getting away with this though." I point at him sternly.

He pushes my finger down, a pleased look on his face, and lightly kisses me. I forget about being mad at him instantly and turn to pudding.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Hey Corinne! Wait up!" I stop, turn around, and see Alex running towards me. "Hey." He huffs out of breath and puts his hands on his knees.

"How long have you been running for?" I giggle at him. "You need to start working out."

Alex responds by elbowing and laughing alongside me.

"Come on. I'll walk you to class. Where are you going?"

"Ancient Runes. You don't have to walk me there." I smile.

"I know, but I want to. I feel like I haven't seen you much."

It's been a little over a week since we came back from break. I've been spending more time with Lily and the Marauders and less time with anyone else. Guilt strikes me.

"You're right." I grimace. "I hadn't even thought about that I've just been so wrapped up. I'm _so_ sorry Alex. I didn't mean to ignore you." I touch his arm in grief.

"Don't worry about it. Sally told me that you're dating Remus now so it's understandable."

"But that shouldn't have to change anything! How can I make it up?"

"You can start by sharing dinner with me and the others today."

We pause in front of the open door to my class.

"Deal. It's feels like forever since I sat there! I kind of miss it. Save me a seat?" I ask.

Alex gives me his smooth smile.

"Definitely."

I walk into the class and sit up front, excited for today's lecture.

* * *

When Ancient Runes is over, I close up the Spellman's Syllabary and my notes.

"Miss Daphne." Professor Babbling stands in front of my desk. "It may be my first year as a Professor here, but your work of translating hieroglyphs and interpreting runes are beyond any other student's work I have seen so far. Keep it up and you might be able to pass the N.E.W.T.s next year."

_Well, it started as a compliment. I'm not too sure where it went after that though._

"I will continue to do so Professor." I nod my head and leave for dinner.

A blonde-haired tan boy waves to me from the Hufflepuff table and pats the seat next to him. Remus should understand. I shouldn't be spending all my time with him anyway. If he becomes too comfortable and complacent, he'll get bored with me quickly. And I'm not about to let him go so soon.

"You going to the Quidditch match in two days?" He asks me when I sit next to him.

"Sure." I shrug. "It's something to do over the weekend when there're no Hogsmeade trips."

"How about we go together? Er, all four of us I mean." He nods to Sally and Mandy who look at him questioningly.

"She's probably going with Remus or something." Sally looks downcast at her food.

I swallow before answering.

"I wasn't planning to. It would be lovely to go with you guys though! Who will we be rooting for though – Ravenclaw or Slytherin?"

"Ravenclaw of course." Sally smiles widely at me.

"Sounds like fun!" I say.

"Do you remember me telling you about Ronnie?" Mandy asks me.

I nod.

"He's that Ravenclaw guy you have Transfigurations with, right? The dark haired one dating some Slytherin?"

"Exactly. Well they broke up and I only know that because Ronnie told me himself. He wasn't that upset about it. Anyways, he's been walking me to my classes, spending breaks with me, and carrying my stuff. Now I'm just waiting for him to ask me out already."

"So _that's_ where you've been for breaks! I keep trying to find you but never seem to." Sally says.

Mandy blushes.

"This is great news! Why don't you invite him to go to the Quidditch game with us?" I propose to the short girl.

"Yeah, and have him bring some guy along for me too!" Sally sticks in.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll ask him later tonight." Mandy sticks up straighter.

"Make sure to tell him to bring a _cute_ friend. I don't want to be entertaining kneazle." Sally says.

"Quidditch is a wicked sport." Alex jumps in and looks at me to see if I agree.

"Can't say I understand it too well. We don't have it over in America." I respond.

"We can change that!" Alex puts his arm around my shoulders and squeezes. "In no time you'll be an expert and screaming bloody murder from the stands. Could even become the school's commentator."

"Yeah right." I roll my eyes.

Mandy stares at his arm still around me and I shrug it off casually.

"Well I need to be off. Got to get some studying in while the night's still young. I'll see you guys later!" I leave my seat make my way out of the Great Hall.

As I'm about to take the stairs down to get to the Hufflepuff common room, James yells behind me to stop.

"Aren't you coming with us?" He says.

"Not tonight, I've got school work to do. Sorry!" I reply, the pause and rethink. "But, I guess I can make an exception for tonight." I grin and join them.

Who am I kidding; they're ten times more fun than schoolwork ever is. We filter into the Gryffindor common room and take over the couches and chairs. When I cuddle up next to Remus my smile loosens into a frown. His eyes show fatigue, the premature lines on his face become more prominent, and overall he looks sickly.

"Rem, are you okay? You look terrible." I try to tell him in the kindest way possible.

Instead of answering, Remus smiles and pulls his mouth to mine. It starts out innocent enough until I feel his wet tongue probe inside my easily accepting mouth. As his tongue roams around and dances with my own, so do his hands. They tug my shirt out of my skirt so their cold touch can roam underneath, massaging my smooth skin. He leaves my lips and moves down my neck, pecking here and there until he finds this one sensitive spot. He bites and sucks and nibbles and I moan and wriggle and scratch in pleasure. As suddenly as Remus starts, he stops and pulls away. I whine and try to pull him back, not wanting his attention and fun to end just yet.

"That convince you that I'm fine?" He whispers in my ear.

I nod and grab his shirt, wrenching him closer so we can continue. Just as he's about to comply, Lily clears her throat, alerting me to the fact that we're not in his room but rather in a place where people come and go. I clear my throat, sit back up, and listen in on their conversation.

"That's a pretty sizeable hickey." Lily stares at my neck.

I groan.

"Not another one! The spell to cover them up is so tricky! Takes me forever each morning."

"Then don't." Remus says and he runs his fingers over the spot he just made.

"I don't want to walk around school having people stare at them. It's unnerving and definitely uncomfortable."

"You mean you don't want Alex to see." He replies angrily.

"That's not it at all."

"Whatever." He sits back and away from me.

My blood is starting to boil with annoyance.

_How many times is he going to bring up Alex for no reason? I told him not to worry about him and trust me but he keeps ignoring that. Alex is my friend and Remus better get used to that because I don't want to keep hearing this._

"It's not 'whatever' Remus. It's obviously bothering you so spit it out already and be done with it."

"Fine." He sits back up straighter, glowering at me. "I don't like him, I don't trust him, and you're going to stay away from him."

"I'm not going to do what you say Remus! Sorry you don't like him, but truthfully you never got to know him. So no, I won't stay away from him." The others have quit their conversation and are listening in on us.

For all the time I've spent here, the Gryffindor common room has never been this silent.

"No need to get to know him. He's a pig and needs to lay his hands off of you."

"His hands are never on me!" I think back but then remember those times when he's put his arm around me.

_Whatever, my pride is too big right now to take back what I said._

"At least he's not judgmental like you!" I say, regretting it quickly after.

_Stupid mouth._

"You're right. I'm nothing like that bloody perfect boy. I guess I'm not rich enough for _your_ tastes. Can't please you like _he _can. Why don't you go run off to him now? Bet he's waiting for you."

"Fine. I will." I stand up and wait at the door leading out to the stone corridor. "Are you going to walk me or not." I hold my head high but still wish for him to walk me to my common room's barrels.

"Or not."

I turn sharply and walk away.

_I guess this is our first fight. But I'm not wrong…am I?_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I don't see Remus in class at all Friday. I was hoping he would see me and feel all tons of guilt and just apologize on the spot, telling me how wrong he was. I of course would forgive him and we would move on, happy to have the normalcy back in our relationship. But boy was that one hell of a fantasy.

I didn't see him or the boys at breakfast, but I just assumed they slept in or something. In double Herbology, Lily and I sat next to each and pretended last night didn't happen. Professor Sprout told us how to behave better in the greenhouses next time, apparently not liking some of the tomfoolery she witnessed Wednesday when we fed the self-fertilizing shrubs the flesh they needed. I spent my break working on an essay she gave us and headed to Potions, hoping to catch Remus there.

No luck though. Peter, James, and Sirius were there looking dead tired, but their fourth friend was missing.

By the time Defense Against the Dark Arts arrived, I decided to ask the boys where Remus was, wondering if he's avoiding me because of the fight. They assure me that's not the case and face forward to the Professor going off on something or the other. My mind was too busy to focus on what he was saying exactly.

"-and Ronnie said he would bring Easton with him for you." I tune into Mandy's conversation at dinner.

"Oh good, so Ronnie said he could come!" I say, happy for her.

_I'll for sure see Remus tomorrow so I shouldn't worry. I just can't help thinking if this is about our fight and he got so mad that he skipped class to do something._

"Are you sure Remus is okay with this?" Mandy asks me.

"What do you mean?"

She looks around, and, seeing no one potentially listening in, carries on.

"It's just that this Quidditch game is going to look like a triple date. I'll be with Ronnie, Sally with Easton, and you with Alex."

"Hmmm. It does _seem_ that way, but it isn't, so we should be fine."

"Speaking of Remus," Sally says, "I haven't seen him one time today. Usually you two are so lovey dovey. Something happen?"

"Nope. All's good." I ache to tell them but don't want to find out later that I was just overreacting.

* * *

The library is packed tonight. Everywhere you turn there are students wandering back and forth between shelves, studiously writing essays at the wood tables, and playing with their wands. I even caught one couple going at it.

_That should be me. _

I quickly finish up on my Astronomy star chart due next period. It takes me double as long as is usually does since Remus isn't here to help me figure out the night sky. It's good in a way. It makes me not have to rely on him so much, to be independent.

"I don't want to be a bother, but can you help me with this Herbology essay on Fluxweed?" Lily asks as I carefully roll up my chart, tying it shut with a black ribbon.

"Sure! I already did mine before break so I can go get it if you would like, even though I've retained the information about it already." I pull my chair closer to hers.

"That's fine; you don't have to go get it."

"Fluxweed is obviously known for its healing properties. It's used in Polyjuice Potion but for it to work correctly, it can only be picked on the full moon."

"So like last night." Lily says.

"Yes."

"Okay, let me write this down." She says and I wait.

"Excuse me, but it is 9 pm – curfew time. You are to return to your common rooms now." Amelya strides over to us and says in her commanding voice. "Oh and Corinne, my brother told me to tell you that he'll meet you in the common room tomorrow morning."

"Oh okay, thanks." I smile at her as I pack my things up.

"Who was that? She was _very_ fine." Sirius asks me.

We walk slowly through the hallways, having to go our separate ways soon.

"Alex's sister. She's a prefect too."

"Not bad. Not bad at all." He says.

"What did she mean when she said Alex will be waiting for you tomorrow?" James inquires.

"We're going to the Quidditch game. Are you guys going?"

"Just the two of you?" James asks.

"No. Sally, Mandy, and some other guys are coming. You all are welcome to join us!"

"Maybe we'll see you there. Wouldn't want to interrupt your date." James replies.

"Don't tell me you believe in that foolhardy too. Whatever. I'll see you all tomorrow whether it's at the game or in the Great Hall." I stop and turn back around to them at the staircase I'm about to dissent. "Will Remus be at the game tomorrow?"

They shrug.

"I doubt it. Don't worry too much. You'll see him Monday for sure." Sirius reassures.

_Because I wanted to wait that long to see Remus anyway._

I go down the stairs and find the barrels, tapping them and crawling through. Knowing that I'll have to leave for Astronomy soon, I claim one of the fat chairs in the corner of the room and study for a test I have Tuesday.

_Never a bad thing to over-study, only under-study._

I crawl down when I hear a girl's giggle mixed with a man's chuckle, not wanting to ruin their moment like Sirius makes it his mission to always kill Remus's and mine.

"You're so pretty Julia." I hear the man's voice as he kisses her and realize it as Alex's.

She giggles some more.

"Do you want to come to my room tonight? I'm tired of kicking your roommates out all the time." He asks her.

I guess she complies because I see them go through door leading to the men's dormitories.

I run to my room and get out a parchment as quickly as possible.

Dear Remus,

I hope you're in your room or come to Astronomy tonight. I have to tell you something about Alex.. I'll tell you tonight in class. Trust me, you'll like it.

I can't wait to show you my star chart. It took me awhile but I think it's the best one I made.

I missed you today.

Corinne

I crossed off the last line, not wanting to sound so needy and send it off to Pearl and sit on my bed as I eagerly await his reply.

* * *

I tuck myself in slowly and just lay in my bed. Mandy and Sally ask me what's wrong, but I don't answer. I just want to be alone and think.

Remus wasn't in class and never replied to my letter. Pearl came back without a response, so I know he got it. He couldn't have gotten mad over Alex. He's the calm and fair-minded of the Marauders. Remus would've come to his senses by now. Something else must be going on.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Mandy and Sally shake me awake. Once I rub the blurriness out of my eyes, I look them over.

"When did you guys get up?" I say, noticing them already dressed.

"Hours ago. We were just so excited for our dates today. Hurry up so we can get breakfast and head to the game."

"Has a letter come for me?" I ask, putting a sweater on.

"No. Was there supposed to be one?" Mandy replies.

I shake my head.

"Just wondering. You ready?" I ask them.

When we get to the common room, Alex is already there. He joins us on our trek to the Great Hall.

"Ronnie said that Easton and he will find us in the stands so we don't have to wait for them." Mandy smiles as we sit down.

"Do you know Easton, Alex?" Sally asks. "I haven't met him yet and am wondering if you knew anything about him."

"I don't know many other people in their sixth year or below I'm afraid. You probably have nothing to worry about though." He assures her.

"That's right! This is your last year here. I can't believe you only have a few more months, then poof!" Sally exclaims.

"It's definitely sad but exciting at the same time. Now I can travel all over and have these brilliant adventures. I wasn't meant for the boring office work most people do after Hogwarts. I won't be settling down any time soon, that's for sure."

"What if you find the right person? Someone who you're close to these days?" I allude to the girl he was with last night.

His eyes grow big as he looks at me.

"W-well, yes, in that case. I would settle down with her immediately."

"How about you Corinne?" Mandy asks.

"Yeah, I'm up for becoming serious with someone. I mean, that's why you enter a relationship with them, isn't it? I just don't think marriage is for me."

The girls gasp.

"Let me restate that. I respect marriage and all; I just can't see myself being married, even if the right person asked me. Now that doesn't mean that I won't live and have children with him. I want to do all that, but without the whole shebang." I shake my head. "How'd we even get on this topic? Can you pass the butter please?"

Not knowing how long this Quidditch match will be, I wrap some food up and stick it in my purse.

"So um," Alex clears his throat, "how long do you think you'll be with Remus."

"Don't know. Couldn't really tell you. It's not one of those things you can predict."

"You two had a shorter Honeymoon Period than most couples." Mandy says.

"What do you mean?" I take a sip of my pumpkin juice, almost done breakfast already.

_Scarfed down breakfast like it was my job. I should get a raise._

"The Honeymoon Period – the time where a couple can't stand to be far away from each other for a long time. They're always so loving and doting. You and Remus seem to be cooled down already." Sally injects. "Just my observation."

I shrug, not knowing how to answer that. It's quiet for a couple of minutes.

"You guys want to go now?" Alex breaks the awkward silence.

"Yeah, yeah." I say and gather up my belongings, making sure to take extra food.

We go out to the pitch and take a seat in one of the stands. I notice that each level is nearly full, the ones with more space available closer to the field.

_Probably so they can avoid getting hit or flown into. No matter, I enjoy the front; extra foot room._

Soon enough the Slytherin and Ravenclaw match begins. I can't follow what's going on so while I'm thankful for my friends' shouts along with the commentators, the score board clears up most of my confusion. It's easy enough to separate the teams, one wearing green robes and the other blue. I couldn't tell you their jobs though. It looks like there's someone guarding the goal, someone hitting a rather heavy looking ball, and others trying to score. The one that confuses me the most is that there seems to be one player on each team flying sporadically around the pitch. I ask Alex what they're doing and he says that they're looking for a 'snitch'.

"Ronnie!" Mandy exclaims and I look over at the two boys.

Frankly, I don't find them too attractive. One reminds me of Peter, and the other ones has an overbite so severe that he can't close his mouth properly without his teeth sticking out in some way. But hey, if Mandy's happy, I shouldn't be judging. Alex and I scoot down for them. Yes, to an untrained eye it might seem that all of us are on dates right now, but that's to an untrained eye. And anyone who doesn't know that I have a boyfriend.

"Foul on Buckman by Juko for blagging. Oh come on ref, are you _that_ blind?" the commentators voice blares in my ears. "70 to 100, Slytherin leading. There goes Hefer for the goal and oh! Twight blocks it!"

As I open my bag and pull out a sausage to nibble on, I glance over to my roommates to see how their dates are going. Mandy and Ronnie, who I find out is the boy with the overbite, look cozy. He has his arm around her and she's relaxed. Sally on the other hand is the exact opposite. Her body's rigged and she her eyes keep snaking over to Easton, who's not giving her the time of day.

I cringe.

_Is that really Ronnie's cutest friend? I wonder what his ugliest friend looks like. Bad Corinne! That's a terrible thought!_

I excuse myself to the bathroom, not in a hurry to return.

_I wonder why Alex didn't invite Julia to come along. He seemed to like her a lot last night. She was really pretty too. Oh well, I'll have to ask him about it._

I rejoin the others and look at the score board. Slytherin and Ravenclaw are tied 100 to 100. I notice Alex searching for something so I follow his gaze. He hones in a person and I realize it's the girl from last night! She waves to him and he tells me that he'll be right back. Mandy and Ronnie are cuddling and whispering and it's so cute. Sally seems to be less tense than before and her and Easton are somewhat talking. I look around for someone to talk to but all around me are unfamiliar students.

These are the times I feel like the awkward third person. In this case I'm the fifth person.

_What to do, what to do._

I get out more food and watch the game, slinking in silence.

_Feeling lonely. But I really shouldn't. I'm surrounded by friends right now and Alex is returning soon anyway._

After five minutes pass, I begin to wish I brought my schoolwork with me. After fifteen minutes, I get tempted to go get my schoolwork. After two hours and the game nowhere near stopping, I decide to stop focusing on what people must be thinking about me fifth personing it and being alone and to decipher the game of Quidditch. After three hours pass I begin to understand it more except for some fouls they call. Finally five hours pass and the Ravenclaw captain calls a timeout. I get up to walk around and stretch. I leave the field and round the backside of the bleachers and out of the corner of my eye I catch Alex in a rather compromising situation with Julia.

_Damn, how long have they been at it?_

At that moment though Alex looks up and spots me so I scatter away.

_Yep, that was enough stretching if you ask me. Legs feel find now._

I transfigure my apple into a cushion and place it under my butt for comfort. Alex rushes over to me, flustered.

"Hey look, I didn't mean for you to see that. Don't think any less of me." He spills out.

"It's okay. You have a girlfriend. Nothing to hide!"

"God no, she's just someone to have fun with." Alex zips up his pants. "I would never want to date her. I like someone else anyway."

"Who? Maybe I know her."

"Alright, well," he lowers his voice so only I can hear, "you can't tell her. Or anyone for that matter."

"Deal. Just tell me."

"It's, well, it's your roommate." He looks uncomfortable.

_No wonder he hangs out with us so much! They'll be so pleased when I…wait, I can't tell them. I'll have to set them up somehow then._

"Which one?"

He glances over at them.

"Um…Sandy."

_Sandy?_

"I'm sorry; did you say Sally or Mandy?"

"Sally, yeah, her."

Sally kept her brown hair in pigtails today, but put yellow and black bows around them.

_I guess he has a think for pigtails, but more power to him. She'll be happy that he's interested._

* * *

The Quidditch match plays on through the night. Hot Chocolate gets passed around and we huddle up in our robes. Counting the stars above me quietly lullabies me to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

On Monday people continue to talk about the Quidditch match that lasted from Saturday through to Sunday during breakfast. I was disappointed that it couldn't last longer, hoping to miss class. But all things have to end at some point.

"Hey Cori?" A quiet voice behind me says.

I turn my head around and see Remus.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" He nods to the doors of the Great Hall.

"Yeah, sure." I wipe my mouth and get up.

In the corridor he leads me to a secluded spot and leans against the wall, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Before you say anything, I want you to know that I'm not sorry about what we fought about but I hate fighting with you and then you vanish for two days to goodness knows where." I ramble out without pause.

"I was visiting my sick aunt." He reaches one hand out of his pocket and rakes it through his hair. "I do that once a month."

"I know, but I can't just guess when you're supposed to leave. I wish you would've told me is all."

"You're right, I should've told you." Remus scratches his chin in though in contemplation. "When I see her once a month, it's every time there's a full moon. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

I think about it for a few minutes.

"Is…is your aunt a werewolf?"

He nods.

"Why do you need to be there?" I ask, confused.

"To give her the Wolfsbane Potion I'm able to get here from Hogwarts. Anyway, I'm only telling you this because around this time of month I kind of…emotionally unhinge. I don't usually act as much of a jerk. And I wanted to apologize to you. Judging people is one of the worst things people do although everyone does it. I was wondering if maybe I could eat a meal at your table with you to get to know Alex a little better. Or maybe meet up with him on the next Hogsmeade trip. He's obviously a really great person if you approve of him."

_Now _this_ is why Remus is the perfect man. He's able to admit he's wrong without me forcing it out of him and he wants to right himself._

I wrap my arms around him and squeeze him tightly.

"You're such an amazing person."

"I highly doubt that."

I kiss him in glee and feel a light scratching and pull away.

"You've got yourself a moustache." I continue to give him little pecks.

"Yes, I haven't gotten around to it yet."

"Keep it. I like it."

The bell rings, interrupting our make-up session. I pout.

"Come on, I'll walk you to class." Remus's big, scuffed hand grabs my small, soft one.

"Do many people know about your aunt?" I ask.

Remus shakes his head.

"Only you and the guys. I would rather no one else know. There are prejudices out there."

"Okay. Oh! So _that's_ how you knew so much about werewolves for my essay earlier in the year. Do you remember helping me?"

"Helping you? I basically wrote it for you." He teases.

"Didn't do too badly of a job either." I laugh.

Out in the direct sunlight I get a chance to see him more clearly.

"You seem to have fresh marks on your face." I tell him as I reach up and graze my thumb over them.

"Look who we have here. A pretty girl like you getting her ditzy self mixed up with a poor halfblood." A Slytherin boy saddles his way over. "Nice lines on your face grandpa. Someone take one too many shots at you? You look like you lost if you ask me."

Remus and I ignore him and continue to walk to the Herbology classroom. I squeeze his hand tighter.

"Oh oh oh, I wasn't done talking." The same dark-haired boy glides in front of us, flanked by two beefy others. "I could show you a good time sweetie." He rips me out of Remus's grasp and pulls me away.

"I don't want to cause trouble. If I ever did something to offend you, I apologize." Remus calmly replies.

"Yeah, you offended me all right. It offends my eyes when I see a girl like her with a guy like you. He probably doesn't even treat you right girlie." He licks his teeth as he roams over my body. "Quite a fine specimen."

"I've got to get to class." I try to go back to Remus but this tall Slytherin pushes me away.

"How you feel about a duel? Winner keeps the girl." He suggests to my boyfriend.

"What? Like a prize? I-" I start to say but get cut off.

"Deal. Here. At 10 tonight." Remus says.

The Slytherin boy agrees.

"I will _definitely_ be in favor of this trophy. Mmm mmm." He smirks and leaves with his friends.

"Rem, this is ridiculous." I walk over to him. "Let's just forget about it."

"I already agreed to the duel." His blue eyes glance at mine.

"So? You'll get in trouble for it."

"Cori, I want to do it for you. I don't want you to see me as less than a man. I want to prove to myself at least that I deserve you." He says to me, his voice soft.

I cross my arms and narrow my eyes.

"And you think this duel will tell you that, do you?"

"It's a start."

"Oh Rem, please. You can prove it to yourself some other time." I tug on his arm.

"Please." He whispers and gives me the saddest look I've ever seen.

Reluctant, I turn my head away.

"Fine." I murmur.

We're in an open courtyard, the ground still wet with snow and ice. It's not as bitter out as it usually is, but there's still a chill in the air. Goosebumps pop up on my skin from the cold Winter breeze and anticipation from the impending duel. We reach my Herbology class and I give him an innocent kiss, dreading entering the classroom due to me being tardy.

As soon as I sit down, Hufflepuffs get points taken away. They groan behind me.

_No _my_ fault!_

"Where were you?" Lily whispers to me when Professor Sprout's back is turned.

"Long story. Remind me to tell you later. You'll want to know."

She nods and we sit for the rest of the period, listening and taking notes.

"Miss Daphne, I hope this doesn't become a common thing for you, your lateness. You get one more pass before detention." The Professor tells me as I hand in my Fluxweed essay at the end of class.

"Yes Professor." I slouch slightly.

I've had detention many times at my old school. I didn't mind it so much. I'm only upset because I disappointed my head of House _and_ Professor, the woman who complimented me on my skills two measly weeks ago.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" Lily asks excitedly.

"Remus is dueling some Slytherin boy later tonight. They got into a scuffle and then something about male pride or being a man. I don't know, I don't follow men too closely. They can be confusing."

"Who's the boy he's dueling?"

"Remus said his name is Uklio. A Harold Uklio. Ever heard of him?"

"Bloody hell, how'd Remus get mixed up with _him_?"

"We were just walking. He was really mean to Remus. Harold was making fun of those lines on his face and his wealth and blood status. As if I care about all of that! He only has like three lines and it's what makes him uniquely attractive to me. Remus simply agreed to the duel because he said that he wanted to prove something to me."

Lily stops me.

"Corinne, Remus probably feels as if he doesn't deserve you."

"Yeah, he said that too."

"Corinne! He's obviously a tad insecure. You're going to have to show him that he's wrong."

I sigh.

"I know. I was going to later. Before the duel. It's at 10 so I figured so I'll over to Remus's room and you know, satisfy him."

"See, I'm torn. I want to hear stuff like that, but then I _don't_ want to hear stuff like that." Lily shivers. "Yuck. He's my friend so thinking of him in any different way is…" She shivers again.

"Okay, okay." I put my hands up and let out a laugh. "I won't ever go into detail. I just need you to keep the other three boys distracted and out of there. No one ruins the moment like Sirius. He's a champion at that. Just wait until you and James start to date. Sirius will be up your guys' butt like no other, not wanting to be left out."

Lily and I part at the staircases, each off to different destinations.

I spend my break studying. This is one of my only breaks I have by myself, so I always try to get as much done as possible. Especially studying. It's hard for me to concentrate when I'm around others. That's why whenever someone asks me to study with them I have to turn them down. I feel confident in my abilities as long as I gained those abilities independently. When I leave for my next class, I hurry. It's Potions with Remus and I want a chance to talk to him since I haven't really since the pre-duel.

He's not here when I turn up, so I sit down and open up my book and notes in front of me. Soon after he arrives and sits next to me.

_Such a good decision to have Peter work with Sirius._

"Hey there you." I turn to him and bite my lip.

Remus raises his eyebrow as I fiddle with his clothes.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to do some…studying later." I slip my hand under his robe and blazer. "In your room. On your bed maybe." My hands travel lower.

As my nail traces the outline of his penis, I look up at him through my eyelashes.

"What do you think? You up for some…studying?"

Before he can answer though, Professor Slughorn interrupts everything.

_It's like an adult Sirius._

I huff and start copying down some notes. While I do so, a note of black ink is passed my way by scarred hands.

After class?

_Someone's too excited._

I dip my quill tip into my deep lavender ink and write back.

I was thinking after dinner.

He writes back one letter.

K.

For the rest of class my mind juggles the present boring lecture and the future exciting night.

* * *

Lily is downstairs in the Gryffindor common room, doing me a favor of which I owe her on later. Remus and I didn't make it far, landing instead on the trunk in front of his bed. My legs are straddling him, my butt far enough back for my hands to be able to travel under his pants. My grey sweater is thrown across the room somewhere, my black and yellow tie undone and slithering off. He's already made quick work and unbuttoned my stark white shirt, pulling it open.

"You're wearing too many clothes." I complain through the heated kisses.

Remus breaks away and takes off his sweater and tie, his lips then proceeding to attack my mouth. Rough skin chaffs against my smooth hips. His one big hand moves up, cupping and kneading my breast. The calluses stroke against me, causing pure pleasure. I moan and go to unbutton his shirt but he stops me and shakes his head. I nod while I still kiss him, but he doesn't relent.

"Why not?" I pull away, hoping my pout will change his mouth.

"I just…it's not something you'll want to see."

"But it is." I reply, confused. "Rem, come on!"

His broken eyes search mine before yielding.

_I won't hurt you._

Those fingers stroking me moments ago fumble and unbuttons his shirt, as slowly as he possibly can. Remus avoids my gaze, looking into the corner as each button comes undone. At first all I see is tuffs of brown hair, not even that much though.

_Is this his furry little problem? Jeez, guys are drama queens. I'm pretty sure my dad's hairier. _

But then his shirt fully opens and I spread it apart as if it was a curtain.

"Oh Rem." I whisper, sad.

My eyes try to follow the red, deep scars jagged across his body but the shirt obfuscates it. I push the remainder of the white cloth off his shoulders and it falls against the trunk.

"What're they from?" I trace the worst one with my finger, running it from the middle of his chest to his side.

"I'll tell you one day." He answers.

Here my boyfriend is – open, exposed, and showing me his vulnerable side. I can't put my acceptance of him into words, so I decide to show him.

"Lay down." I nod to the bed and he scoots far enough back so that he's on the plush, red mattress.

Remus is on his elbows, staring at me in question and insecurity. I push him so he's flat on his back and give him a small, light, caring kiss. I start on his mouth, moving along his jaw down to his neck and across his collarbone. Then I locate each scar and show them the love they never received from Remus himself, showing them that I approve of them. He guides my arms out of my shirt and we lie and kiss on his bed. Innocent love quickly becomes unsafe lust. Knowing I came here for Remus, I unzip his trousers and push them down. My hand encloses around him and he almost inaudibly inhales.

"You guys need to see this!" Sirius slams their door open.

I groan in frustration and roll off of my boyfriend and smush my face into his pillow.

_Even this pillow is better than mine._

"Oh I know what you two are doing. Getting some hanky panky. I know." I can hear Sirius's grin from here.

I get up and locate my shirt, rebuttoning it as Sirius tells us why he came in the first place.

"Peter is beating Lily in chess. You have to see it. Quite a show really. Lily's becoming madder by the second. _Man_ Moony! You _really_ got lucky with this one right here!" Sirius salivates.

I stare at him disgustedly as I walk over to my grey sweater on and pick up my tie. I glare at Sirius one last time as I stride past him and down into the common room. Lily glances up at me and cringes.

"I' m sorry. They got suspicious and know that chess is my weakness. I poured my focus into this game instead. It was Sirius, wasn't it?"

"Isn't it always." I pull up a chair next to James and decide to watch the game between the two of them.

We fill up our time on this until 10 comes around. We break up into smaller groups, knowing our chance of getting caught by anyone diminishes if it wasn't some big group.

Remus, James, and Peter are the first three to leave. Sirius, Lily and I are to head out after five minutes roll by.

"You two were getting pretty chummy there." Sirius thinks lightning the mood includes bringing up his interruption from earlier.

I glower and he laughs.

"How was I supposed to know what was going on?" He claims naivety.

"Well honestly, what did you _think_ was going on Sirius?" I ask exasperated.

"I wasn't thinking about that. Besides, I didn't think you were the type. I thought you were some celibate pretty girl. There's so many of them here in Hogwarts, I kind of thought you were one of them."

I just stare at him.

"That is _the_ worst excuse I've ever heard."

"We should probably go now. Anymore time alone and you two will kill each other." Lily observes and leads the way out.

When we get to the exit, Sirius pushes me a little so he can get out before me. I knock him away and swivel to him in the doorway.

"Ever heard of ladies first? Can you at least _try _to be a gentleman?"

Sirius looks around.

"Yes, Lily did go first. If you see another lady please point her out to me."

"Guys." Lily whisper-snaps at us.

"Sorry." I hiss at him and turn back around to Lily.

"Yeah, well, Remus is happy and that's all I care about. Don't hurt him. He's more fragile and forgiving than you think." Sirius whispers to me on the way.

"Of course he is, he's friends with you fools." I then pause. "But I know. I won't"

"He goes on about you all day. That's probably why I'm tired of you each time I see your face."

"Your compliments still need work. That one was wrapped up tightly in an insult."

Hearing the clacking of shoes in front of us, we slow down and tip toe into the shadows. The noise goes away but we wait two extra minutes before resuming our quest. I get to the courtyard and see Remus and the others standing across from Harold Uklio and seven of his friends.

"Ah, the pretty girl makes an appearance. You look even better than before my dear." He comes over and kisses my hand.

James and Sirius push him away and I quickly rub the back of my hand on my robe. James goes over and says something to Remus before joining the rest of us.

Remus and Harold get into position, bowing their heads before beginning.

The spells are simple and not intending direct harm, allowing me to relax a little.

"Furnunculus!" Harold shouts and Remus easily deflects it.

"Densaugeo!" My boyfriend immediately screams right back.

_I shouldn't be worried anyhow. I've dueled against Remus in Defense Against the Dark Arts a countless number of times and he was good. He was going easy on me too so he's even better than that._

"Rictusempra!" Harold begins to get agitated as none of his spells so far have come through Remus's shields.

"No need to worry. Remus is supreme at dueling. He's taught Sirius, Peter and I quite a number of curses, charms, and spells." James informs me.

"I know, but it's still nerve-wracking. I mean one sliver of a mistake and something bad could hit him. Lily told me that Harold is really talented too." I say.

"_Lily_ has never seen Remus duel outside of the classroom before." Peter says in defense of his friend.

"Expelliarmus!" A red light shoots out of Remus's wand.

"What, you mean he's done this sort of reckless thing before?" I ask.

"Not often. Only a couple of other times." James replies.

"Immobilus!" Harold exclaims.

"Impedimenta!" Remus bellows.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Diffindo!"

I look up in horror.

"Do they ever get _that_ intense? Used correctly, that cutting charm can cause serious damage." I say.

At that moment though, Professor McGonagall strides right in and ends the duel in its spot.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"What time is your detention tonight?" Mandy asks me in History of Magic the next day.

"6. I'm not sure what Professor McGonagall has in store for us. Detention back at home was writing lines, but everyone is telling me that it's different here."

"It sucks that you lost your Hogsmeade privileges for the rest of the year too. I was hoping to do some shopping with you next time." Sally chimes in.

"Tell me about it. The only thing I have to look forward to on the weekends now are Quidditch, and the next match isn't for weeks." I grumble.

I feel bad for Lily. Professor McGonagall threatened to take away her Prefect badge and I know how much it means to her. She said the same thing to Remus but he wasn't fazed by it. He looked proud actually. I can't be sure though, boys are hard to understand.

Class ends and I look down at my paper, noticing it's blank. I didn't take one note during class.

_Oh well, Professor Binns was probably babbling on about goblin rebellions again._

Mandy and Sally follow me back to our rooms. In place of spending my break at the library, I decide to hang out with my roommates while I clean my room. It's gotten a bit messy. I start with what's scattered on the ground, making piles of clean clothes, things needing to be laundered, and randomly objects.

"You don't have to do that! Come on over to Sally's bed." Mandy says after awhile.

"You guys keep your sides so clean that whenever I see my side, I feel bad. I'm almost done anyway." I say as I take my wand out to fold my clothes and levitate them to my wardrobe.

I then scourgify any dirty surface – the floor, the window, under my bed, the desk. Especially the desk. That thing collects dust like no other.

"When Remus comes over I don't want it to be disgusting anyway." I comment from under my bed.

_Ew gross! What is even under here?_

"That's right. When are you going to properly introduce us to the Untouchables?" Mandy asks.

"Oh yeah, completely slipped my mind." I reply.

_Not._

"How about at dinner tonight we sit with them?" I suggest.

"Will there be room though? There are so many Gryffindors here at Hogwarts." Sally says.

"They're in my Transfiguration class that I should probably head to now. I'll ask them to sit at the Hufflepuff table with us." I gather up my belongings. "See you two later!"

"Bye!" They both shout.

I coil through the corridors, brightened by the sun's strong beams of light. It's a nice replacement for the off-white skies of winter, pregnant with snow. Professor McGonagall's stern demeanor stands rigid in front of the Transfiguration room as she waits for students to file in.

"Hey, haven't seen you since you scurried off last night!" I sit next to Lily

"It's so bloody embarrassing to be here in front of McGonagall and remind her that I'm a failure."

"What? Lily, that's ridiculous."

"No it's not. She gave me the Prefect badge for a reason and now she's probably questioning herself and my abilities." She continues to berate herself.

"If she didn't believe in you, she would've taken it away by now. Besides, we got off easy probably because you were there."

"Ah, it won't be too bad Lily dearest." James leans on our table. "You get to spend it with me!"

"Besides, McGonagall's detentions are the easiest." Remus pips up from next to me. "Aren't you going to sit with me?" He nods his head from me to his table.

"Think again buster." I scoff. "Anyways, my roommates want to meet all of you guys so I told them you would eat dinner with us at the Hufflepuff table tonight. Is that okay?"

"Why do we have to meet them? I've seen them before – Molly and Sandra, right?" Sirius asks, annoyed.

"Mandy and Sally. _That's_ why. They just want to be friends. Nothing wrong with that. So will you do it?" I give Remus my big, round eyes.

"Yeah." He sighs, defeated.

Pleased, I slip Remus a quick kiss.

"Moony! Have some willpower!" James says. "But yeah, fine, I guess."

"Settle down, settle down." Professor McGonagall commences class. "For the last week, we've been discussing Human Tranfiguration. I feel that we are ready to begin practicing. I would like you all to start easy and transfigure your feet into paws. I'll be around to help assist and give pointers. We will be working on Human Transfiguration for the next couple of months. This is extremely difficult and do not think you will achieve success on the first try. You may begin."

* * *

Transfiguration today was a complete bust. I managed to only change my nails into claws and had to sit there as Professor McGonagall untransfigured me. Charms and Ancient Runes flew by and the next thing I knew was it was time for dinner. Sally and Mandy were clinging to my arms and hopping with excitement all the way to the Great Hall. Outside of the doors, the four Marauders plus Lily were standing there chatting as they waited for us. I introduced everyone and we went in and sat down. Remus chose the seat next to Alex so he could get to know him better. Happy that my boyfriend is open-minded and so kind, I held his hand with my free one, using the other to eat.

"I wish I was there to see this duel. It's all everyone is talking about today. You should've told me!" Sally says.

"I'm sorry; I didn't think it would interest you." I apologize.

"Interest me? Of course it would! Seeing handsome, strong, brave men is on my to-do list for every day." She replies.

I laugh.

"I thought something was going on with Easton. You two seemed to be getting friendly at that Quidditch game." I say.

"I don't know what you mean." Sally kicks me under the table and points her eyes to Sirius, motioning me to be quiet.

I roll my eyes and cut my food into small pieces. To my right Remus and Alex are grinning and getting along just fine. I place my small hand on his clothed thigh and squeeze. He gives me a quick smile before returning to his conversation to the Hufflepuff Prefect.

_I wonder what'll happen if…_

My hand moves slowly up his thigh but before I can get anywhere, he snatches it up and looks down at me.

I pout.

_Why can't he let me have fun?_

Remus leans down and whispers in my ear.

"Maybe if you weren't so obvious about it." His hoarse voice breathes out.

I continue my pout. His face sweeps down and captures mine in a wet, noisy kiss. He pulls away but I lean into him for more.

"Let's go back to my room." I yearn for more.

"No can do. We have to head to detention." Remus shakes his head.

"What-what'll happen if we skip?" I reply, still in need of him.

"I don't want you to find out." He says and joins in the others' conversation.

I sulk for the rest of dinner, having been rarely turned down by guys before. When it's time for detention, I follow everyone to Professor McGonagall's office. The eight Slytherins are already there when we arrive along with Filch.

"It seems that Mr. Filch needs help in the trophy room. I've decided to let you Gryffindors do just that. The rest of you will be cleaning the restrooms on each floor. I'll be overseeing that project. Now Mr. Filch and I have agreed that no magic shall be used. You Gruffindors will polishing the trophies and the materials you need to work with will be provided in the room with you. My workers will find cleaning supplies already there in each restroom. Mr. Filch will lead you five," she nods to the Marauders and Lily, "to the Trophy room. I expect the rest of you are able to find the restrooms okay. You may leave." She quickly dismisses us.

_My day just got worse. I was hoping for detention with Remus, or maybe Lily, at least one of my friends. Instead I'm stuck with Harold and his gang cleaning the repulsive restrooms like muggles! I would rather polish stupid trophies than make toilets sparkle. Girls can be gross._

I huff to the girls' lavatory on the first floor and start my work.

_Is that-is that a pube? Oh great! I love this already._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Dear Corinne,

Easter Break at Hogwarts is coming up and we would like you to be home for those two weeks. We have an important dinner that we would appreciate your presence at. I hope school is going well and you are keeping up your grades! We miss you very much.

Much love,

Mom and Dad

"What's that?" Alex asks me at breakfast.

"A letter from my mom and dad. They're just telling me that they hope to see me home over Easter Break."

"I'm staying here. It's quiet here so it's a great chance for me to get some work done." He says.

"That's a good idea. I would've done the same if given the chance. How about you two? What's wrong with you? Hello?" I wave my hand in front of Mandy and Sally's face.

"We're sorry Corinne. We just can't stop thinking about it!" Sally sighs dreamily.

"It was sweet, wasn't it." I smile.

"I wish _I_ had a boyfriend for Valentine's Day who was as perfect as Remus." Mandy says.

"You would've if Ronnie didn't get back together with his ex." I remind her.

"He wasn't even cute. I don't even know what I was thinking." She replies. "But Remus…hmmm. I mean he gave you flowers and even set up a picnic. _A picnic_. He's truly the best man out there. You better keep all eyes on him to make sure no other lady tries to lay a claim."

_It was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had. Remus is no less than perfect. He's thoughtful and affectionate and gives me enough independence in the relationship. It's been a month and a half since we began dating and it's the best month and a half of my life. I'm so high up in the sky happily floating on these thick, puffy clouds. There's no way they can dissipate any time soon._

"Well, I should be heading to History of Magic. I wouldn't want to miss any of Professor Binns's repeated lectures on the goblin rebellions." I sarcastically say and rise out of my seat.

"Okay! We'll meet you there. We're just going to finish up here." Mandy replies.

On my way out of the Great Hall, Remus is on his way in. He kisses me.

"Where are you off to?" He asks.

"Class. Walk me?"

He grabs my hand and we leave. I feel bad that he didn't get to eat breakfast yet, but not _that_ bad. I spot a broom closet along the way and decide to show Remus my thanks for being such a great boyfriend. I shove him into the closet and before I close the door sealing off light, I catch him smirking. He reaches out in the dark and grabs my hips, pulling me to him quickly and roughly. As our lips mesh together, his hands grip my butt and lift me to turn my body against the wall. My hands roam his chest and under his shirt while he lifts my leg to his hip and massages the skin under my skirt. I travel down and play with him on top of his pants, squeezing and stroking.

Remus groans and unbuttons my shirt. I shake it off of me and undo his bottoms, hooking my finger under them and his underwear and sliding both off.

"I thought you had class." He grumbles in my ear.

"History of Magic." I say back.

"In that case…" I gasp out when he unhooks my bra and takes my breasts in his hand as his hot, steamy tongue glides on my neck.

He kneads my mounds and uses his thumb to flick the tips. I moan and throw my head back, unable to handle the pleasure his expert body dishes out. My small hands grasp his exposed member and waken it up. One of my hands reaches back to his sack and lightly teases it while the other strokes him. As Remus's penis rises and hardens, he bites down on the hickey he left me the other day. That spot extra-sensitive I whimper in desire and grind into him, accidentally brushing his hardness against my covered opening. My loud gasp covers the sound of his quiet grunt.

The room loses its steam when the door suddenly opens and bright lights and a girl's bewilderment are heard. The door quickly shuts.

"That better be Corinne and not some other girl with you." I hear Lily's voice on the other side.

I sigh and we put our clothes back on. Straightening my shirt and brushing off my skirt while I step into the corridor, I'm met with Lily's stern face.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" She asks.

"It's History of Magic." Remus says coming out behind me.

"Oh. Well next time use the silencing charm. I could hear you from out here."

My face heats up. I finger-brush my hair back to normalcy.

"I should go to the library. See you guys in Transfisguration." I clear my throat of the moment and kiss Remus's cheek before I leave them.

* * *

"What's taken ahold of your attention?" I whisper to Lily in Charms.

"Hmm?" Lily snaps her eyes to me. "Oh, I'm just thinking over Transfiguration. How're you able to turn your foot into a paw so successfully?"

"You're such a liar! I know that's not what you're thinking."

"Fine." She sighs. "I want to know why James hasn't asked me out again. That was all he did for the last two years. Do you think he doesn't like me anymore?"

"Lils, come on now. That's crazy. Of course he does. He's probably just busy or afraid that you'll reject him again."

The Professor clears his throat and glares at us in warning. We go back to copying down notes.

"Should I just ride the wait out?" Lily asks me after a couple of minutes go by.

"I'll talk to him. Don't worry about it." I smile at her. "You two were meant for each other."

"Thank you." She touches my harm in gratitude. "You and Remus were obviously lovers from a previous life. You two got together faster than me and James have."

"I don't know how that happened. Remus isn't as extroverted as James."

"I just – you don't have to tell me – but are you a virgin?"

I cough is surprise. She slaps my back.

"That was unexpected. But um, yes, I am. Why?"

"Ladies please, I am trying to teach a lesson here." The Professor exasperatedly says.

The remaining minutes of the class go slowly by. I'm thankful when it ends and say goodbye to Lily and James.

"And where am I taking you?" Remus asks.

"Ancient Runes."

"Broom closet?" He leads me over to one.

"I actually enjoy Ancient Runes." I tug him away. "Besides, I've had enough time in the broom closet today."

"If you say so." He resumes his place next to me.

"Remus, you should know that I've never had sex before. I'm a virgin."

"We'll just go slow then. I don't want to make you feel like we need to rush."

"That's nice of you to say, but I like the pace we're going at. Not slow, normal." I smile up at him and swing our arms.

"If you want normal, my parents want to meet you over Easter Break. You're going home those two weeks, correct?"

"Yes, and yes! Do you think they'll like me? Do you think they'll approve of me? What should I dress in? And should I go for the modest-polite girlfriend or the outgoing-friendly one?"

_I wonder what his parents are like._

Remus laughs.

"You'll be fine. If they like James, Sirius and Peter, they'll like you."

"Will your aunt be there? You know…the one that you have to see once a month?" I wonder.

"I highly doubt it. Why?"

"I've always wanted to meet…someone like her."

"They're dangerous." Remus stiffens.

"Not always. Only once a month if they don't take the Wolfsbane Potion."

He stops me in front of my class and leans in to kiss me. He leaves his forehead on mine and stares his midnight blues into my eyes.

"You are one of the most understanding people I know. I fear your curiosity will only leave you heartbroken though."

I wrinkle my brows in thought.

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he places one last kiss on my lips and walks away to his own class.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"So I was talking to Lily on Monday." I start out.

It's Wednesday night and I'm in the boys' room relaxing on my boyfriend's bed before having to leave for Astronomy.

"And every day before and after." Sirius burbles out.

"She said something about you James." I ignore Sirius and continue on.

"Really?" He sits ramrod straight at his desk. "What she say?"

"We were curious as to why you haven't asked her out again."

"Oh, that." He slumps and goes back to his schoolwork.

"Yes, 'that'. Well? Why haven't you? Lily said that was all you did in previous years! Are you over her all of a sudden?"

_I'm genuinely curious._

"I'm just waiting." He replies.

I stretch out on top of the red sheets, my face near Remus's feet. Remus is propped up by pillows, reading a book on some spell or whatnot.

_He's going to be one powerful wizard to ever go up against by the rate he's absorbing books and information on curses and shield spells. He'll be one damn good protector when he's older. I hope it's me he'll be protecting. _

I sidle up next to him. My ruby red lips find their way to his scratched neck, depositing their tender touch and affection.

"Waiting for what?" I ask, cuddling into Remus further and resting my head on his beating chest, his free arm possessively encircling my waist.

"I need to think of some sort of brilliant way to ask her." James says.

My supple hand runs up and down the harsh clothes on my boyfriend's chest, happier than ever. I mean, if I was a cat I would be purring right now.

"You don't need anything extra, that's just unnecessary. As long as you're there, you'll be fine. That's all she wants anyways."

"So she _wants_ to go out with me this time? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes James. That's what I'm trying to get at."

"Well! Would you look at that! My Lily Flower is crumbling under my charm!"

"How come I don't have a cute name like that?" I ask Remus.

"Huh?" He breaks away from his book to look at me. "What did you say?"

"I said how come I don't have a cute name like Lily Flower?"

"I don't know." He moves to get comfortable. "Did you want one?"

"Jeez, not if I have to force it out of you. Nevermind, go back to reading."

He nods, confused, but returns to his spell book.

_Remus has these magical, romantic moments, and then he has ones like this. And I still like him for it._

"Alex was asking about you during dinner. He wanted to know if you were going to Hogsmeade Friday. I told him no, that we got those privileges taken away and we'll just be lolling around inside this big castle. Then he offered to stay, but I didn't want to make him miss Hogsmeade so I told him he didn't have to, that he should go with Julia or something. 'I'm not with her like that Corinne. I told you that. I like your roommate anyway, remember?'. He was quite adamant about it. Anyway, he said that he would stay with us, hang out. I was thinking that we could explore the castle. It's got to have hidden places somewhere. So what do you say? Hmm? Remus?" I tug at his shirt.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

I huff.

"Alex is staying in this weekend to be with us. Do you wish to explore Hogwarts?" I ask.

"Sure, I'll show you the secret passageways we found a while ago." He goes to kiss me but I pull back.

"How come you've never shown me before?"

"I don't know." He tries to kiss me again but meets air instead of my lips.

"How about if I bring Sally. Did you know that Alex has a crush on her? Funny thing though for he gets her name wrong a lot."

"He doesn't like her." Remus inputs.

"How do you know?"

"You don't forget a girl's name that you've been paying extra attention to." Sirius speaks up.

"Maybe he means Mandy then."

"I doubt it." Sirius snorts.

"Well he said it was my roommate. I don't see why he would lie about that sort of thing. I mean he's been spending a lot of time in our room to be with them."

"Is he there more than me?" Remus asks, concerned.

"Yeah."

"I don't like it." He says.

"Why?"

"He's not there to see them. He's there to see you sweetheart." Sirius says.

"You two are wrong. He said-"

"'He has a thing for your roommate'. We know. But he's lying." Sirius offers his opinion.

"You two are paranoid. What do you think James?"

"I'm with Remus and Sirius on this one. Guy's got a thing for you." James says.

"Peter?" I ask, hanging onto my last hope.

"Sorry." He shakes his head.

I sigh.

"Well if that's what you all wish to think."

"Do me a favor and sleep here tonight?" Remus asks.

My heart jumps at the bold request.

"I just mean sleep." He whispers in my ear.

"O-okay. Okay, yeah, sure."

_This is a big step in our relationship. One night turns into two nights, turning into a week, turning into a month, turning into… I need to stop overthinking. I have a problem. It's just one night. Doesn't mean much. I mean look at Remus, acting as if he just asked my favorite color._

"Shouldn't you two be on your way to Astronomy right now?" Sirius alerts us to the time.

"Yeah, thanks mate." Remus shuts his book, gets up, and pulls me with him.

I slip my shoes on and leave the boys, returning moments later for my robe.

"I'm nervous for this test." I tell him.

"Don't be. You studied all day today. You'll do fine." Remus tries to calm me.

"Since you'll probably be the first one done, can you wait for me?" I ask.

"How else would you going to get into my room?" He smirks.

My heart leaps again in excitement. I smile back at him.

We continue to chat until the Professor handed out our test. I flip through the pages and inwardly groan.

_This is going to take me forever. One bad thing about a night class is that I'm exhausted, so I have nowhere near enough energy to complete tests._

I bump back and forth between the telescope, my test, and the star chart I have to fill in. My eyes hurt from straining them to see the planets to correctly describe the physical characteristics of them, including their size and surface features such as craters or volcanos. There were exactly two lengthy and extremely challenging essays that I saved for the end. I kept having to shake the pain from my hand. After I wrote them, I checked for grammar and spelling errors. Satisfied and being the second to last one left in the class, I head for the stairs. Remus is sitting at the bottom of them.

_Best boyfriend ever. He's probably exhausted._

He looks up from his spot through heavily-lidded eyes.

"How'd you do?" He takes my hand, his grip slightly loosened due to lethargy.

"I'd say pretty good…until the essays. I hate essays like any normal person, but those were impossible. Do you think the boys are already asleep?"

"Most likely. You can make as much noise as you want though. Sirius does all the time with the girls he finds."

I roll my eyes at Sirius while we enter a darkened Gryffindor common room. Remus's room is pitch black so he lightens it up with his wand.

"You going to help me undress?" I whisper and nibble his earlobe.

In no time Remus has his and my shirts off. We fall back on his the sheets so red only a Gryffindor room would have. He smushes our bodies together, my velvety exposed naked skin mingling with his scars, as our tongues rub against each other. The pink muscle penetrates my mouth while I undo his pants, pushing them over his nicely-shaped bottom. I smile into our kiss and give his butt a gentle squeeze. An animalistic sound gutters from within his throat. I feel the vibrations spark throughout my body, my toes tingling. He practically rips my skirt off of me and throws it on to his trunk.

"Remus!" I gasp.

He ignores me and continues a descent to my yielding stomach. When he reaches my sensitive belly button, his warm breath and hot, damp tongue circle it. I whimper loudly, never before feeling such a sensation rack through me.

"We should close the curtains." I moan out when my eyes adjust in the darkness.

Just as Remus grabs his wand to shut the red drapes, I notice someone watching us. I sit up annoyed.

"What?" He asks, concerned.

"Peter's what. He was sitting in his bed watching and…touching himself!" I cry out in embarrassment and disgust as I tuck myself into his sheets.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow." He sighs and gets in also.

After a minute of not being surrounded by him, I get confused.

"Well?" I say.

"Well what?"

"Aren't we going to cuddle?"

"Like bloody hell that'll happen. You have too much hair. It'll just get in my face and tickle me all night."

"Can't you put up with it for one night? I mean I'm still trying to cope after being _spied_ on by your creepy friend."

"Sorry 'bout that, but I'm not moving."

"Hmph." I turn on my side.

A kiss is placed on my cheek.

"Goodnight." Remus says before moving back to his side.

I fall asleep smiling.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Saturday morning I invite Alex to sit with Lily and the Marauders at breakfast. They decide to take this time to interrogate him.

"So Corinne tells me that you're seeing someone named Julia." James starts.

"In a sense." He runs his fingers through his blonde hair.

"You not interested in being in a relationship?" James asks.

I grab a roll and break it open, steam rising out of its freshly baked body. I take a bite and savor the buttery taste.

"Not with her. You know how it is." Alex nods to Sirius.

"Sure do mate. And like myself, I tend to be with other girls. You like that too?"

Alex shakes his head.

"Sorry, can't say that I am."

"You've gotta be interested in someone." Sirius presses.

"Um, well, yeah. Oh Cori, you've got some breadcrumbs on your fast. Let me just…" He takes his napkin and reaches across the table to remove it from my face.

"Thank you." I blush.

Remus raises his eyebrow at me.

_That proves nothing except that he's looking out for me. At least he didn't let me walk around with food on my face. I wonder how long it would've taken Remus to notice. That's mean. And untrue. Remus would've noticed…eventually. I need to spend more alone time with my boyfriend. Time that doesn't include us all over each other. _

"Hey," I grab Remus' attention while the others continue their conversation, "since you know the castle so well, how about we sneak out of the group at some point and do our own stuff? I want to spend some one-on-one time with you this weekend."

"Whenever you want to leave them just let me know."

I smile up at him.

"-seem to be spending a lot of time with Corinne. Is there something you want to tell us?" Sirius directs his question to the tan boy.

"I just-well, I don't know if she's told you yet, but I kind of like one of her roommates."

"So you're using her." Peter pipes up and I glare at him, sending him to slump in his seat a little more.

"No not at all." Alex laughs. "Corinne's a great friend. Remus is lucky that he got to her before any of the other lads out there who were and still are vying for her attention." He gives Remus a small grin.

"So you have no attraction whatsoever to her?" James asks.

"No, none. Purely platonic."

"You find her ugly is what you're saying." James clarifies.

"I'm sorry, there seems to be some misinterpretation. I didn't mean that. Corinne is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. The rosy hue in her cheeks, her plump lips, her eyes full of warmth and acceptance, her hair soft like a baby lamb's on my farm back home…" Alex gazes over me as he says this.

It's quiet for a couple of seconds after that, enough to make it awkward.

"Thank you Alex. That was very sweet of you! I've never had someone describe me with such…such gentleness. I think it's time we head off though. Got seven floors plus the towers to explore." I get up and everyone follows me.

"I tried to not jump to conclusions, but can you at least see what the others and I see?" Remus says to me in a tone so that only I can hear.

"Yes." I reluctantly let out.

"Will you be more careful as to not string him along further? Serious damage could be done to his feelings."

"What do you think I should do? I still want to be his friend."

"If it was me, I would know a girl wasn't interested if she distanced herself. But since you want to be friends…" He thinks about this. "Just be cautious about how you respond to him and his advances."

"Oy! You two coming?" Sirius shouts to us. "You got the map Remus. We can't go anywhere without you."

"Be right there Padfoot!" Remus calls back and we both hurriedly close the large gap between us and the others.

Remus takes his wand out and points it to a blank piece of parchment, hiding it from my view and saying something to it.

"Whatcha doing?" I try to ask casually.

"Don't worry about it, love. There. How's that for a nickname?" He distracts me.

"Terrible. But I'll take it in the interim until you come up with a new one."

He laughs and gives me one of his infectious smiles.

"How about this. Instead of showing you two around this enormous castle, I show you a secret passage to take to get into Hogsmeade?" Remus suggests.

"Done." I reply instantaneously.

Remus takes over as head of the group and leaves me with Alex.

"This'll get your boyfriend into a lot of trouble if found out." His blonde hair glints in the sun.

"I suppose, but I doubt he'll even be spotted."

"I just don't want to see you hanging out with bad influences is all."

"That's kind of you to wish that, but I believe it's up to me to decide that Alex."

"Look, I'm not trying to make you mad, just telling you to be careful."

"Careful? Careful!? What is it with men thinking I'm some sort of reckless girl?"

"I'm looking out for you. It's what friends do."

"Thank you for your concern." I say.

We reach an old hag made of stone, hunched over with one eye. I recognize her as Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. She was a very famous Healer who developed the cure for the fatal dragon pox disease. She's a Healer's idol.

James taps the witches hump and mutters an incantation. Her back opens up and shows a short slide into a narrow and dark tunnel.

"Just an hour's walk and then we'll be there." James informs Alex and me and heads on in.

Alex, Sirius, Peter and Lily trail him.

"An hour?" I slightly complain to Remus.

Surprisingly, Remus closes the passage and takes my hand, leading me away from Gunhilda.

"Remus, what're you doing? Our friends are _that _way." I point.

"I thought you said you wanted to be alone together? I decided to take initiative to find that time."

"Yes, but, now that I know Hogsmeade is an option I kind of want to go there." I say, abashed at me being so selfish.

"That's why we're taking a different entrance. We'll get there before them and have it be just the two of us. A date. I already told the others."

I fling my arms around him and place a large kiss on his mouth, the smacking sound echoing through the empty corridor.

"I'll take that as you happily accepting." He looks at that piece of parchment again.

I drift my body and gaze over and see the strangest thing. It looks like a map of sorts but enchanted somehow. It has people's name near some feet with where they are.

"What is _that_? Is that what you were hiding from me earlier?" I take it out of his hands. "It's marvelous, but where'd you get it? I've never seen let alone heard about something like this. Oh wow! There's us Rem! Our names look _very_ good next to each other."

"It's um, something the boys and I created a while ago. This can't get around though Cori. It probably goes against many a laws. I didn't want to show you earlier because Alex was there and I'm still deciding how trustworthy he is."

"_You_ are one of the most talented wizards I've ever come across." I bestow a light, chaste kiss upon his lips. "So where is this other entrance?"

"Right above us on the fourth floor. Find a mirror and it'll be behind it." He takes my hand and leads me up the stairs.

We stand in front of the shiny surface and stare at our reflections. Remus's moustache grows fuller and hairier every day. The lines on his face are a slight pink but don't stand out that much. The top of my head reaches his shoulders. His broad shoulders that lead down to his scarred and brown-haired covered chest. He looks down at me in the mirror, his body full of tenderness and passion. I move so I'm staring into deep blue waters. His hands take my head and pull me closer, our lips barely touching but alive with desire.

He softly pulls away and leads me into Hogsmeade. It isn't as cold out as the previous months so I didn't have to make a pink puffball of myself. We both stop and look around. My eyes zoom right on in to where I want us to go. The soft yellow lettering on the dark pink surface reads 'Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop'. Remus sees me staring at it. He groans and sighs and does anything but tell me how much he doesn't want to go in. But I want us to, so I lead him into the frilly shop. The door elicits tinkling sounds as we enter and I procure a cozy table in the middle of the room decorated with lace napkins and delicate sugar bowls as Remus goes to get us our drinks. There are other students hear with their boyfriends and girlfriends, kissing and talking and touching and holding hands.

"You know what next weekend is?" He softly asks as he sits across from me.

I shake my head and blow on my hot tea, adding lemon and honey.

"What?"

"The Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match. Think you can manage to sit with us?" Remus playfully smirks.

"Definitely. As long as you can handle losing." I smirk back.

"James is playing. There's no way the Hufflepuffs have a chance."

"You gave me a chance. I expect you to give the other Hufflepuffs one too." I smile.

"I didn't have much choice with you." He nonchalantly shrugs. "I liked you too much not to."

"Like_d_? I hope that was just a slip of the tongue buster."

"It's changed a little. Not particularly much though."

We grin and reach over the table halfway to kiss each other.

"These past couple of months have been something from a fantasy. Educated in a castle, gaining great friends, and having one of the best boyfriends around." I say as Remus takes my hands in his and strokes it with his thumb. "It only makes me wonder if the dream will last or be popped by You-Know-Who. Oh Rem, war scares me."

"It scares everyone, but war entitles all to be selfless and fight for a better cause. One where the future is bright, peaceful, and full of good."

"I know, and I will fight. I just don't want to lose my parents or my friends or you."

He takes both of my hands in his and grips them tight.

"I will protect you Corinne. You have to accept that losses will be had, but as long as I'm here with you, I will try to minimize those deaths."

I go over to him and bend down to take his face in my hands and slam my mouth on his, pushing my hot, wet tongue into through his lips. The taste of coffee befalls my tongue before his has a chance to tangle with mine. He pulls at my waist so I'm on his lap and the distance between us diminishes. His one hand holds me steady as his other roams my body beneath my robes. I put my hand on his chest and pull away.

"We're in public." My forehead rests against his.

"So?"

I smile and roll my eyes before returning to my seat. We finish our drinks and head out in the cold. Students are fretting from place to place, giggling and joking. Remus and I just stroll happily along, no destination in mind.

"Ah here you two are. We've been looking for you." James throws his arms around the both of us, separating our hands so he could fit in the middle.

"How'd you get here so quickly?" Remus asks, amused and curious.

"We brought broomsticks with us. It's an hour by foot, but 10 minutes by flight." Sirius answers.

"I've got to try that next time!" Remus replies.

I duck out of James's arm and fall back to Lily.

"Want to go to Honeydukes?" I nod my head in the direction of the shop.

She agrees and we leave the five boys.

"So I talked to James." I grab her attention as I look through the shelves.

"About what?"

"When he was going to ask you out. Damn. I should've gotten the Jelly Slugs when Remus and I came through the basement. Now they're all out."

"I believe your eyesight is failing you. They are right next to me. What did he say?"

I grab two handfuls worth.

"That he wanted to go all out. I told him to forget all that and to just ask you."

"You're right about that. I had a chance for a little one-on-one chat with Alex today when we were flying through that passage way. He's not intolerable and he is rather handsome. If he didn't fancy you I would take him in a heartbeat."

"Ask him out and see what happens." I suggest.

"You know what? I am. If James doesn't ask me by the Quidditch match next weekend, I'll do it!"

"Either way's a win-win." I smile and we pay for our items.

I take a Jelly Slug out of my bag once we're outside and nibble on it.

_It's been so long since I've had candy from Honeydukes._

The guys exit Zonko's Joke Shop and spot us. Lily confidently struts over to Alex. James glances over worried and confused but gets distracted by his purchase. I walk on over and join them all. Remus grabs me by my waist, his navy eyes crinkling in delight of seeing me. I believe the kiss he gives me to be a simple one, but when I begin to pull away he keeps me close and nibbles on my soft lips.

"Sorry, you tasted very sweet." He says.

"You have Honeydukes to thank for that."

"I would rather thank you." He leans in to kiss me again and I giggle.

"You know that you can _never_ get rid of that moustache. I love it so." I kiss his upper lip covered somewhat by the brown hair above it.

"Never thought you were so easy to please." Remus smirks and I giggle again.

"Can't you two wait? Makes me feel lonely that I have no girl here to snog." Sirius says.

I pull away and take Remus's hand instead.

"Sorry Sirius. But we _were_ on a date before you came. I feel inclined to ignore you, but I'll respect your wishes." My eyes lose sight of shops. "Where are we going?"

"I'm following Lily and Alex. It looks like…the Shrieking Shack would be my best guess." Sirius replies. "That okay Moony?"  
"Yeah."

_Why does he need to ask Remus? Oh! Remus must be scared of the Shrieking Shack._

I wrap my arms around Remus, wanting to comfort him. He in turn drapes his arm around my waist. We walk for a couple of minutes. The ground has drops of snow here and there, no longer a pure white color. Mud has been mixed with other substances to create a dark yellow-brown snow. Down the road lined with rickety old wooden fences, on top of valleys and hills, lay the infamous house.

I feel his body tense under my fingers and I hold him tighter as we stand there.

"Where are you two going?" Sirius shouts.

I catch Lily and Alex walking closer to the house.

"Come on! It'll be an adventure." Alex calls behind him.

Beady little blue eyes are latched onto my body until I glare at him.

_Creepy Peter._

The said boy scatters after them, promising to bring them back.

"Not that _I_ want to, but why don't you want those two exploring the house?" I ask them.

They scratch their heads.

"Safety. Just thinking of their safety." James answers.

I nod my head but don't buy the lie.

We decide to stand and wait for them to return. I run my hand up and down Remus's chest, hoping to placate him. He places a kiss on top of my head. Just then Peter reemerges looking sheepish, followed by a very joyful couple holding hands.

"Oy! What're you two doing?" James shouts at Lily and Alex.

"Doing what any couple would do." Lily replies once she's closer.

"Couple?!" James appears stricken.

"Absolutely. I asked Alex out and he said yes." Sensing that I'm anxious to hear all about it, we both break away from our boyfriends and lead the pack back into Hogsmeade.

"I didn't feel like waiting. I didn't want to be lonely." She tells me.

"As long as you're happy about it all." I say, unsure about how I truthfully feel.

I take a glance behind me and see a heartbroken face.

_I've never seen someone look so sad before._


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

At breakfast the next Saturday, I grab a seat in-between Sally and Mandy. Across from us is a couple that has no problem showing affection. Lily and Alex continue to neck each other until I clear my throat, causing them to stop…then resume after a couple of minutes go by. James has been going through anger and sadness all week. It hurts me to see that. Therefore, Remus and I have been less touchy feely so as to not remind him of his loss. If we do want to make out, he comes over to my room.

"It's going to be one heated match." I say to my roommates as my other two friends seem to be caught up in each other.

"If the Gryffindor didn't have James we'd win for sure." Mandy replies.

"Too true. You two should come sit with us in the Gryffindor stands!" I offer.

"Um, Corinne, no way is that ever going to happen. Hufflepuff all the way!" Sally says.

"Even if Sirius will be there?" I ask her coyly.

Sally clears her throat and adjusts her shirt.

"You have my attention now. It seems as though I will be joining you."

"You can't leave me alone! Fine, I'll come with." Mandy says. "But if anyone from our House gives me heat for this, I'm blaming it on you." She points to me.

"Deal. We should probably head there now. We got terrible seats last time." I brush the crumbs off of me and stand up.

Lily looks up and sees us raring to go so she scrambles to her feet and follows us three, bringing Alex in tow.

"Where's James?" I ask once we reach the three guys. "Did he leave already?"

"Had to get ready. Early morning practice." Sirius says.

"Good for them. Gryffindors need all the practice they can get when compared to us Huflepuffs."

Remus raises his eye.

"Since when did you been interested in Quidditch?"

_He knows me too well._

"I'm not. I just feel protective of my House and the need to boast." I shrug.

"Besides, he didn't want to be here for _other_ reasons." Sirius says, indirectly indicating the newly formed couple.

"I can't even imagine what he's going through." I murmur.

"Hey Sirius." Mandy and Sally giggle out.

"Er, hello. Let's go to the pitch now, shall we?" Sirius says.

The two girls grab onto his arms, dragging him with them. Remus and I tail them, a skulking Peter and the lovers bringing up the rear. We get seats all the way at the top.

_At least my neck won't hurt as much. Last time I had to tilt my head all the way back to watch the game. I'll still have to angle it back this time, just not as harshly. Plus there's back support from the wall behind me. Still, that leg room from last time will be greatly missed._

I take out some food from my bag that I was able to procure from the Great Hall before we left and begin to eat again.

_Hey listen, I'm still hungry. I got to breakfast late._

Remus's hand reaches into my bag and takes out some bacon and toast. I laugh and he kisses me on the cheek.

_Haven't gotten a public display of affection for a whole week now. If food is all it takes…_

"Thanks." He smiles cheekily.

Out in the middle of the pitch, the opposing teams gather.

"Look! There's James!" I point out excitedly. "What's he doing?" I ask when I see him leave his team to shake hands with a member on the Hufflepuff team.

"He's a Captain, Cori. They do that out of formality."

"I thought he was the Chaser." I reply, confused.

"He's both. You _really_ don't know anything about Quidditch, do you?"

"Not too much. I know the positions and the main objective…and where the scoreboard is."

Remus chuckles and reclines, putting his arm around me.

Balls start moving all over the field, signaling the start. The two teams lift off and the game begins.

For the next couple hours, I sat next to Remus eating and trying to ignore Lily and Alex making out profusely. Mandy and Sally entertain Sirius's attention all the while Peter keeps scooting closer to Mandy. I have to admit James is amazing to watch, a very great leader. I would follow him any day. He flies on a broomstick as if he was merely walking – graceful and confident. He spotted us early on in the game and waved but then got caught off guard by Lily's lack of notice and took a bludger to his arm.

"He was going to ask her out here." Remus says.

"What?" I swivel my head to his.

"James. He said that once Gryffindor won this match, he was going to ask her in front of the whole stadium."

I clutch my hands to my chest.

"That is the sweetest thing ever! If only she waited longer! Wait a second, how could he have been so sure that he would beat Hufflepuff?"

"You've seen James on a fly. It's a no brainer."

_I have to give him that one. _

An hour goes by, the score 60 to 70 in Hufflepuffs favor. Truth be told, it's gotten a little boring and I've been trying to think of ways to have some fun.

_Since James isn't here and everyone is distracted…_

I keep my face planted forward on the game as my hand slips under Remus' robe and to the top of his pants. Loosening them, my fingers creep their way underneath the coarse fabric until they find their destination. Out of the corner of my right eyes, I see Remus giving me a hard stare when I start to stoke him, but he does nothing to stop me. I start my strokes slow and long, wanting to gain the full feel of him. Once his member gains height, I speed up the pace. Remus' mouth becomes tight and his face angry-looking as he tries to hold his sounds in. I rub and tease and play with the head a little, trying to moisten his entire length so it's more pleasurable. Someone scores and people stand up in cheer, but Remus and I remain seated. Everyone else is too busy with themselves to notice us though. His hand bangs back on the wall and his breathing becomes labored. I make eye contact with him to see if he's enjoying it.

"I'm…I'm going to…" He doesn't get to finish his sentence.

A wet substance is squirted on my hand. I pop my fingers in my mouth and clean off the sticky fluid while Remus takes out his wand to fix himself. He then leans back again, this time looking satisfied.

I catch sight of the scoreboard and see that it 90 to 90. It's a tight match. I really wasn't expecting much from the Hufflepuff team. James calls a timeout and has his team circle around, pointing all over the field, probably coming up with a game plan. Once it restarts, the team in red robes spreads all out, confusing those clad in yellow robes. James zips in and out, around and through, up and down throwing Quaffle after Quaffle into the goal post. His swift and agile flying is as elusive as the Golden Snitch. Everyone's eyes are on James, either in awe or jealousy.

"We're going to win." Remus' hot breath rakes across my neck.

"We'll catch up."

He shakes his head.

"No one's paying attention to the Gryffindor Seeker." As soon as Remus says that, the referee calls the game.

Gryffindor wins 260 to 90. The excitement getting the better of me, I jump up and down and cheer for my House's opponents. I spin around to Remus and beam up.

"Celebration later tonight if you're up for it." He tells me.

"Of course!" I laugh and continue cheering.

* * *

I join the Gryffindor Quidditch team and others in the Marauder's room after the mini-celebration in the common room. Here we can drink and party without getting in trouble. Lily wasn't invited for obvious reasons. I wish my best friend was here, but I don't want to hurt my other friend who's still grieving. Not when his team just won. James pours us each a drink and we clink classes.

"To teamwork!" James yells and everyone chugs the alcohol down.

I sip it, not being able to withstand the burning sensation as a lot of the guys can. It makes me gag. People slap James on the back and someone puts on music. We all gather around having a good time. I mingle with some of his team players. They're a big, burly bunch of boys with the exception of one lean, toned girl. They tell stories of James and his pranks he played before I got here and how he works that into his Quidditch strategies. If I knew how to play, I would definitely try out. Especially if James was the Captain. He really stresses the need to have not only teamwork for success, but the ability to let it all out and have fun. And that's what tonight is.

The flirting, dancing, laughing, and liquor flows continuously. I lose Remus at some point in the night but the male part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team has no problem keeping me company.

At the moment a fellow named Frank Longbottom is giving me a well needed back massage. His fingers work their own magic; knotting out my tight muscles and making any stress within my body just melt off. My inhibitions loosened, I take off my top to give him more room. The other guys stare as Frank makes work of my back, heating me up more.

"That feels _very_ nice." I softy slur.

"You know Frank, I doubt Alice would be happy 'bout this."

I turn around and see Remus crouched down next to us.

"Hey baby." I reach out for him but miss.

"Ah man, you're probably right. Thanks mate. And don't tell Alice." Frank looks down and gets up.

Remus claps him on the back and stands too. I grab his outstretched hands but he takes hold of my arms and hauls me up. The guys all groan.

"Sorry boys. Better luck next time." Remus chuckles at them.

"What happened to the hands on me?" I ask and spin in circles looking for them. "Oh that's not good. I got dizzy." I clutch my head.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed."

"But I don't want to walk all the way back!" I complain.

"That's why you're sleeping here." He leads me to his bed.

"With you?"

"I can go and see if Frank or someone else wants to if you prefer."

I smile and pull on his shirt, bringing him towards me.

"No. I want you." He grins cheekily as he pushes me onto the plush mattress. "Don't forget to close the curtains this time."

He takes his wand out and shuts the party out. I stare up at the nothingness, thinking about absolutely nothing. Remus's scarred handsome face comes into my view as he crawls on top of me. I pull his head down and kiss him.

"I feel obliged to pay you back for earlier." His hands slide up my leg.

"What earlier?" I ask, not feeling motivated to speak in full sentences.

_I'm tired. I just want to go to bed._

"When those soft hands of yours gave me a pleasant surprise."

Remus nips at my ear and moves down to my neck as his hands reach further up my thighs.

_Good thing I shaved…_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I curl my body next to something warm. I reach my hands out to pull it closer, greedy to get any warmth in these cold winter months.

"What did I tell you about cuddling?" A male voice and hands push me away.

I crunch my eyes open very slowly and see my boyfriend looking down at me in amusement. I groan and mush my face into my pillow, wishing for that to be the magic trick to make headaches disappear.

_It's not as bad as that one I had at Slughorn's Christmas after party at least. Wow. So much has happened since then._

"Put your hand out." He demands and I do so.

I peek out to see what cold thing he placed in my palm.

_Ah, the potion I took last time._

I gulp it greedily down. It takes hold after a couple of minutes and I gain the strength to sit up. The covers fall down and I just stare at my scantily clad body.

_Whatever._

"Where are you going?" He asks once I get up and leave his bed.

"Take a shower. I don't want to know how bad I smell or look."

"Oh good. I didn't want to say anything but, you know…" He trails off.

I glare up at him but when I notice his eyes crinkling in laughter, I shake my head and roll my own eyes at him.

"See you at breakfast." I murmur and leave without giving him a kiss.

_I mean, morning breath is definitely _not_ something he should experience yet from me. Maybe when more time passes._

I trek back to my room and leave for the shower, scrubbing myself vigorously of last night. When I return Mandy and Sally are still in bed so I tiptoe out to the common room and glide the rest of the way to the Great Hall.

By the time I arrive, the four Marauders are already there and enjoying their food. I plop into the seat next to Remus and plant a small good morning kiss on his lips.

"At least this time we didn't have to break Corinne away from Remus." James comments.

_He seems to be better, being able to talk about couples without pouting and searching for Lily. I guess all it took was for him to focus on Quidditch and winning. Still, Remus and I should've been more discreet last night like we've been all week. _

"Yeah Moony, you must've had a grand ol' time last night. I saw you two walk to your bed and the next thing I knew the curtains were shut!" James says.

"Sorry to disappoint, but this one fell asleep on me." Remus nods his head to me.

I sheepishly smile up at him.

"My bad." I say.

"No worry, just my pride's hurt." He laughs and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

I look to James to see how he reacts, but he laughs alongside Remus and Sirius and grins at us. I join in their romps and sidle closer to my boyfriend. Every now and then, people continue to pass by and congratulate James on his win.

"I got everything planned for today." Sirius says.

"What're you talking about?" I ask, curious.

"We're pulling a prank later." Sirius replies.

I narrow my eyes.

"On who?"

'Snivellus." Sirius snickers.

"Please don't do that. He who doesn't deserve to be tormented. And his name is Severus." I plead.

"No can do." Sirius says.

I take three big breaths to calm my anger and launch into a tirade.

"When I first met you guys, you were tormenting Severus. I in no way wanted to be your friend. You four have obviously never been picked on before, but I can tell you that it's the worse feeling in the world. You think no one likes you and that there's something wrong with you. We're currently at an age where we should be more mature and know better. And I expect that from you all. True, I know very little about Severus, but that doesn't mean he's deserving of what you see fit. There's possible history between him and you four. I don't know. If there is, it's not for _you_ to see fit a punishment. Hope that the forces of nature will take care of it all. My parents are very wise people. They've told me that we're all made of both light and dark. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are. I know this is a long-winded speech, but that's only because I want you guys to do the right thing. Make me proud to be your friend, not embarrassed."

They all stare at me.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but you lost me after the first couple words sweetheart. It sounded like you were going to scold me or something so I tuned you out." Sirius says.

I turn to Remus.

"If you take part in any of this, we're going to have a problem." I exhale a breath of annoyance and leave for the library.

Since it's early in the morning, the library is practically empty. I find a small table right next to a window and open my _Flesh-Eating Trees of the World_ book for Herbology. The sky is beginning to wake up, casting its pale yellow rays onto the text. Friday night I sketched out a schedule for my work and study I need to have done by Monday. Since Saturday was taken up by Quidditch, that leaves today the day to complete everything. And it's a lot.

After two hours of studying for my Herbology test the next day on Chapters 12-15, I move on to Potions. This week we'll be making a new potion and I want to be read up on the ingredients and how to properly concoct it beforehand. I find that this enables me to understand and recall the purpose of a potion for later purposes.

Truthfully I'm jealous that my friends are already learning how to apparate. I have to wait a whole stupid year to do so and will have to travel by Floo Powder until I can. And I have to hear all about it in DADA because that's the class they have after and are still high from excitement. I've yet to have a class that leaves me voluntarily talking about it with such exuberance after it ends. I guess one could say that I'm bitter.

When an hour and a half passes, I decide to head to the Great Hall for lunch. First though, I drop off my books and get the ones I'll need for when lunch is over. I take the long way to the Great Hall. I love the scenic parts the castle has to offer and can only get that without taking any shortcuts. Bare trees in the courtyard shake off the last cold of the season and soak up the sun for the life growing inside them. There are no clouds in the sky to shield the ball of brightness. Small animals are beginning to poke their heads out from their little homes. I don't know if the animals here are in any way different behaviorally from those back where I grew up in America, so I'm not going to take a chance on it and pet them. The air is full of the promise of a sweet spring. I breathe in and out deeply, enjoying the time I have to myself. Something's got to be said for the solitude lifestyle.

Laughter reaches my ears and I poke my way into the courtyard. As I get closer, I catch the Marauders and a dark, thin figure which I presume to be Severus.

_What fools._

James and Sirius are at the forefront, leaving Peter and Remus behind them as they taunt and tease and praise themselves on their self-accomplished prank. I can't see what they've done to Severus due to his back turned to me, but I don't care. When I see Sirius raise his wand to Severus, I pull out my own.

"Expelliarmus!" I shout.

Sirius' wand is knocked out of his hand and thrown to the side. All five boys glance up at me, shocked to see me there. I shake my head to show them my disappointment and continue on my way to the Great Hall.

A pair of footsteps rushes to me on the stone floor.

"Corinne, wait. Cori, please!" Remus catches up to me.

"I'm nowhere in the mood to talk right now Remus. Being an observer is just as bad. Right now I want to be alone. I know I'll say something that none of us want to hear."

Remus nods his head and falls back.

_These are the times I need Lily._

* * *

During lunch I sat at the Hufflepuff table and talked to Amelya. My roommates were nowhere and Lily and Alex were missing again.

"I mean I was hoping for you, but Lily's fine too. I just want Alex to get married so I can have a sister. I'm always meddling in his love life and picking women out for him. You were my first choice." She says over a mouthful of beef casserole.

"I feel you on the sister thing. At least you have a sibling. Being an only child sucks. Sure I get spoiled and am able to have my peace and quiet, but I've always wanted a brother or sister." I stab my steak. "Why was I your first choice?"

"I thought you two would be the most attractive match and give me adorable nieces and nephews. I hear a lot about you since you're friends with James, Sirius, and Remus. All that talk is never negative. You we're the perfect candidate in my book. So I told Alex to pursue you. He did for a little while and seemed interested himself. But Alex has never had just one girl in his life. He's always going after multiple women. Never have I seen him in a committed relationship. But when I saw him with you, I thought my luck had changed! I'm determined to get to know Lily though. I've heard a lot of good things about her too." She rambles on and on with no barriers holding her back.

"Oh well Lily's the best of the best. You'll love her."

"And Alex is graduating this year. It's unbelievable. What am I supposed to do for the next two years?" Amelya laughs.

_Speaking of which, I should get a head start on what I should do this summer. I was thinking of volunteering at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. It'll give me a feel of the Healer atmosphere and I'll be able to get to know other Healers which will be great for when I graduate._

* * *

Sunday has come and gone. I'm left sitting by the same window but this time by candlelight and the moon's eerie luminosity. The library is more crowded and chaotic and students flitter about to finish their work before Monday hits. I get out a new, blank piece of parchment and write to St. Mungo's, wondering if I would be able to spend any time there during the summer months. I ask them that if they are already filled maybe they would know a Healer nearby me that I could shadow. Just as I'm sealing off my letter, some boisterous boys come into my sight.

"Oy, Cori!" Sirius's shout is met by many annoyed shushes.

Since the table is only big enough for two, Remus takes the seat across from me while the others crowd around.

"Hey mate, we just wanted to apologize." James says.

"You should be directing that to Severus, not me." I reply.

Remus grabs my hand and I give the other guys a stare telling them to get lost. They move a couple feet away, still within hearing distance, but pretend to be observing the books on the shelves instead of listening in.

"You knew what you were going to do would make me upset. Why'd you do it anyway?" I ask.

"I…listen, they may have faults but they're my friends." Remus lowers his voice.

"Oh and what am I?"

"I didn't mean…they wouldn't truly hurt Severus. I know them and have for years." I'm about to say something but he continues. "But that doesn't mean that what they did or do is right. They're accepting of me though, so I'm accepting of them. Still it's obvious you're upset. I can't promise this, but I will try to not take part."

_I guess I have to settle for that, huh?_

I contently sigh and lean back in my seat.

"Okay. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go send off this letter then I'm going to try to seek out Lily. I haven't seen her at all today. Do you know where she is by chance?"

"I saw her enter our common room minutes before we left." Sirius jumps into the conversation.

"Thanks." I lean over the table and give Remus a light kiss on the cheek.

Gathering my belongings up, I go back to my room and owl Lily to see if she's available. She sends Pearl right on back telling me she isn't because she has a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, but hopes to see me tomorrow because she misses me. I'm a little bummed but understand. Spending time with your boyfriend always sounds better than doing essays and studying any day. I then give Pearl my letter for St. Mungo's and open the window for her to fly off into the dark night, the stars and moon guiding her in the right direction. My Herbology book lies open on my desk so I go on over to study a bit more.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The weather of mid-March one Friday drew everyone indoors. The incessant nonstop rain turned the solid ground into mud piles. The young, playful first years childishly shriek in fun as they splash each other, their stomping causing splatters of mud to fall upon their robes. Raindrops splat on the window, racing down the clear glass while I silently root for one of them to reach the bottom first and win. When my one drop veers off track, I sigh and tune my ears back to class.

_Well, Professor Binns has finally outdone himself. He's made a lecture so boring that more than half the class is either sleeping or passing notes. _

Mandy and Sally are one of the sleepers, lightly snoring every now and then.

_Just think, two more weeks until break. _

I take another look around the room.

_Back home in the America, History of Magic was at least sort of interesting in that we learned new things every week. I felt that I was gaining important knowledge that would be useful as an adult. Here in Hogwarts it's a different story. They put heavy concentration on Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts while classes like these fall in the background. No wonder not many people continue after their OWL's. I might drop this class next year._

While I go through the different electives I could take in place of this, Professor Binns ends class and allows us to leave.

"Has Sirius said anything about me?" Mandy asks on the way to the library.

"Not particularly, why?"

"It's just that we got on so well during that Quidditch match. I thought for sure he would've said something." She looks dismayed.

"I can ask him if you want." I suggest.

"Ask about me too!" Sally speaks up.

"I'll do it later. Are you two coming to the library with me?"

"No, we prefer our room to that dusty, old place. But you have fun though!" Mandy says and they separate from me at the staircase.

Upon my entry to the library, I immediately go to the shelves on Human Transfiguration. I disregard the books I already read and pick up some others. This particular Transfiguration is extremely difficult. It's tricky to perfect because we're not allowed to practice it outside of the classroom for Professor McGonagall won't be there to untransfigure us in case something goes wrong. Which usually happens. She's always running around in her room to undo our spell. It must be how she stays so fit. She told us not to expect immediate success since it is a N.E.W.T. level spell.

As I peruse the shelves, I come across a table filled with familiar faces.

"Hello. Fancy meeting you four here." I say and join them.

"Moony convinced us to do some work that was due last week." Sirius puts his quill down.

"Don't see why though, we already got our detentions for not handing in our work for those days." James utters.

Remus shakes his head.

"What're you working on?" He scrolls his eyes over my book covers.

"Human Transfiguration. That's so unfair. You boys are one of those smart people who don't have to work to get good grades. I mean, you already accomplished Human Transfiguration within a week of practice. It took me a little over a month and Professor McGonagall says that Lily's almost there." I slump and frown. "And now you're already working on transfiguring the rest of your body into a cat while I'm on those damn legs."

"_Exactly_." Sirius replies. "Imagine if we actually did the schoolwork. We would fly right past you and everyone else and onto transfiguring into a bottle or chair or something. But we wouldn't want that. We're only thinking of you." He tries to soothe me.

"You know what? You're right!" I shoot back up with exuberance. "If you guys tried, you would've graduated already, or maybe even gotten one-on-one lessons from the Professors. I'm so glad you're lackadaisical." I silently hum to myself and open my books up.

A hand tickles my back and a head moves closer to my ear.

"How about we go somewhere more private."

"No can do. If I want to be as successful as you in Transfiguration, I've got to try harder. I need to begin by reading all that I can on Human Transfiguration." I focus on the words in my book instead of the body next to me that depresses into his chair and sighs deeply.

_Too bad for him._

Reading about this form of Transfiguration makes me wish I was a Metamorphmagus. Therefore I could chance my appearance at will rather than having to actually be good with the spell.

_I can't wait for my seventh year when we get to learn how grow and change hair color. I'm thinking a different look each day! Maybe I'll even minimize my breasts or butt. Boys keep staring at them. Not that I mind at all. No siree! But I would rather have a conversation with someone where there's at least _some_ sort of eye contact. And then we get to learn how to transfigure into inanimate objects. Oh the possibilities._

"I have a question." I pose to the Marauders. "Is there a difference between Human Transfiguration and Animagus transformation?"

"Um, yes. Animagi can change into their animal form whenever they want without the help or use of their wand or an incantation. It's a learned ability, not a learned spell." James informs me.

I nod as I take in the newfound information.

"I think finding out your Animagus form would be interesting. Don't you?" I ask.

"It definitely reveals a lot about one's personality." Remus smiles at Peter.

"The Ministry puts a damper on its fun and excitement though by requiring them to be registered. What's the harm of an unregistered Animagus?" Sirius poses.

"Nothing." James retorts.

_Hmmm. Could they be Animagi? They certainly are powerful and clever enough. No way! I would've known by now._

* * *

"Where've you been?" My redheaded best friend asks me the minute I situate myself next to her in Charms.

"I wanted to talk to Professor Sprout and see what her thoughts were about me maybe dropping History of Magic next year." I say.

"What'd she say?"

I look up and wait for the Professor's back to turn to us.

"Just that students who begin studying N.E.W.T. level classes during their sixth year are expected to continue it on through their seventh year."

"What're you going to do?"

"Stick with it. I can't do much anyway. She said I can't pick up any classes either because I would've missed out on all the information learned during the sixth year that would be on the N.E.W.T.'s."

"That sucks. I'm sorry." She gives me an apologetic look.

"Eh, whatever. How're things between you and Alex? I haven't seen you over in the Hufflepuff common room for a while."

"Honestly? I don't know. Do you and Remus fight a lot?"

"What do you mean by 'a lot'?"

She waits a couple of minutes after the Professor stops glaring at us.

"Like, all the time?" She asks hopefully.

"I mean we've had our arguments, sure." I try to make her feel better.

"Oh thank goodness. I was hoping it was normal. I mean, he's allowed to look and touch other girls too. I was just being crazy and irrational."

_Um…what?_

"Lily, what?"

She sighs.

"It's just that whenever he's not with me, he's with all these other girls. I caught one of them coming out of a broom closet with him, the both of them disheveled. He reassured me that they fell while searching for a broom to clean up some spill in Potions." Lily says.

…_.what? _

"Yeah, I can't say I've ever fought with Remus over that. It's usually him not listening or not enough one-on-one time or something stupid. Lils, I _really_ don't know how to say this, but, um, are you _positive_ that Alex is 100 percent faithful?"

"Not 100, but pretty close though. James didn't want me and Alex was there, so Alex is what I get."

"Lily that's not true! James was going to ask you at the Quidditch game!" I say quietly.

Shock and happiness passes through her eyes, her cheeks heating up with anger at herself.

"Are you certain?"

"Remus told me."

Lily looks crestfallen.

"I…I can't believe I was so hasty. You know what though? I can't ditch Alex now. I have to see what happens with that. Thank you for telling me that though. It makes me not resent James anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, anytime."

* * *

Later that night, after being banished from their room by Sirius, Remus and I decide to find a broom closet to get acquainted in. It doesn't help that the halls are so dark it's impossible to see, but the rush keeps us going.

"You two. What're you doing out this time of night?" A Ravenclaw steps forth from the shadows.

The light from her wand flickers off of her Prefect badge placed daintily and precisely on her robes.

"Escorting this one back to her House. It's way too common for Hufflepuffs to get lost anywhere above the first floor." Remus covers and shows her his red and gold badge marked proudly with a 'P'.

"Don't I know." She cackles and lets us on our way.

"Rude." I remark to him once we're out of her earshot. "Hufflepuffs aren't obtuse."

"Ravenclaws tend to feel they have a sort of…intellectual superiority. Not all though. I took a chance with her. If you play on that feeling though, they're more flexible. Don't worry. I'll make it up to you." Remus pulls me closer.

"You better." I tease. "Did you bring that moving map with you? It'll probably be best to avoid any others."

He takes it out of his robes and taps it, muttering something. Once he does, it comes to life.

_Huh. Nifty._

"Ah who do we have here? Two _lovers_ off for a little getaway? I don't think so. You there. What's in your hand?" We turn around to the one and only Filch.

Remus hands him the map and I hope against hope that he won't get into trouble. The hunchback man wheezes as he turns the parchment over and opens it up. His knobby fingers pocket it. Filch's bulging eyes filled with suspicion contrast heavily with his sunken cheeks and horribly pasty face.

"I don't know why someone would be carrying around a blank piece of paper, but I'm going to keep it. Now, if you two don't want to get into any more trouble, I suggest you go back to your rooms now. If I catch you again, I have a special room with toys I would love to use. If only Professor Dunbledore would let me use them…" He mutters on about his torture devices while Remus and I inch away, surprised but gratified that he didn't dock House points or give us a detention.

_He probably saw Remus's Prefect badge and let us go in thinking that he was showing me back to my common room. Or something._

"What did he mean by _blank_ parchment?" I ask, curious.

"Just as he said. It was blank."

"But I saw it! It had words!" I insist.

"Ah that. I deactivated it. Come on, I think there's a broom closet just this way."

"I hope the others don't get _too_ mad about Filch confiscating it. And I think I'm just going to head to bed. Too many omens for one night, that's for sure." I shake my head and ease my hand out of his grip.

He hunches his shoulders dejectedly but walks me to the barrels, making sure to look up my skirt as I crawl through them.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The following day, during my lunch, Alex comes on up and takes the empty seat next to me.

"All alone?" He asks me as I chow down on my tender and sauce laden pork chops.

I nod in confirmation due to the food in my mouth at the moment.

"I'll join you then!" He slides a bowl of stew towards him. "I've wanted to talk to you about me and Lily. To make sure you were okay with it."

"Of course." I wipe my mouth off with the napkin by to my plate, marking its pristine white with a blob of brown sauce.

"Oh. Good. I, er, guess."

_Why's he acting so weird?_

"So what's up with you?" I ask.

"Me? Well, I just began studying for my N.E.W.T.'s." Alex relaxes a little.

"Yeah, Lily was saying how she doesn't see you that often anymore because of them. You'll probably do great. I doubt anyone else has even attempted to look at their notes yet."

"I'll get to see even less of her as the date approaches. It's nerve-wracking, this make-or-break-it test. And damn near impossible to feel confident about it. A word to the wise – begin as early as possible, now if you could. Going back through what I learned sixth year combined with everything this year is a real pain in the ass."

"Oh great! I haven't even thought of that!" I shake my head. "I won't have to take them for another year and I'm already freaking out about them. I'm one paranoid anxiety worrywart." I snort.

"You'll be in a better position than the others though." Alex reminds me.

"True." I clean off another pork chop in thought. "How do you feel about monogamy?"

"You mean in a relationship? Like exclusivity?" He leans in closer to me and lowers his voice. "Is Remus cheating on you?"

I laugh out loud.

"No! Never!"

"Oh so, ohhh. Okay, I understand now. If you're looking to branch out for someone on the side, I would be mo-"

"I should've clarified myself. I only wonder what you must think of me wanting to cheat and all that! I was discussing monogamy with a friend earlier and just wanted your point of view." I lie in the hopes of sneakily retrieving information from him.

Understanding dawns upon Alex's golden face.

"I prefer monogamy. I wouldn't want the woman I'm with, like Lily, to be with another man while she's with me. However, there _are_ more important ingredients in a relationship. Here's how I see it. Monogamy is the bowl and inside the bowl are all sorts of substances. There's trust, communication, attraction, love, and confidence."

"Confidence?"

"Confidence about the relationship. Being confident in the lasting power of it, thus pouring all of yourself into the bowl, holding nothing back. No insecurities here, those would be egg shells that we need to scoop out quickly."

"Okay, I'm following." I say.

"There needs to be two people to make a relationship. They each gather the ingredients and mix them together. Then they cook that sucker and out comes something indestructible." Alex continues.

I go over what he said in my mind a couple of times until it makes sense.

"That's very insightful for someone who's rarely been in relationships."

"Ah, I see you've been talking to Amelya. My parents and grandparents are the ones I've learned that from. A recipe that's been passed down for generations."

"I'm glad you shared that recipe with me." I bump my shoulder with his. "If you don't mind though, my class is going to begin in a couple of minutes."

"Go on little one. You have much to learn." He jokes.

I laugh at him as I walk away.

When I enter Defense Against the Dark Arts, I notice that desks are lined up facing a large blackboard. That means that today's class is a lecture. I grab a seat next to some random Ravenclaw girl as the boys are next to each other, evenly paired. The drab curtains are pulled halfway open, emitting just a little light. The Professor stands up and paces back and forth on his stone platform.

"I thought we would take a break from everything and focus on something equally as valuable: nonverbal spells. There is little to know about this type of spell as it more relies on your own mental discipline, focus, determination, and power. As you can tell by the name, a nonverbal spell is one where the incantation is not performed out loud as all of you are used to. It is very difficult and requires much practice. However, once one perfects this spell, one generates a preference for it and uses it more often.

"You should be learning nonverbal spells either right now or later also in Charms and Transfiguration. We Professors anticipate great things from our sixth year Hogwarts students and hold you up to high standards. Therefore, from now on we expect you to use this spell in _and_ outside our classes. Everything you learned first year should be second nature to you. Because of that, we will start with a spells you learned your first year. Since I was not teaching here at that time, I would like you all to write me a list of spells you were taught and successfully able to perform."

The Professor carries on and it dawns on me that the girl I'm sitting next to is Julia.

"Hi!" I whisper to her excitedly.

The raven haired girl gives me a weird stare before resuming her attention ahead of us.

"My name's Corinne. I've seen you with Alex." I introduce myself.

She nods, not interested.

"Haven't seen you around recently."

"Maybe because he's dating your friend." Julia answers annoyed. "Good luck to her though. If she can tame him, that'll be a miracle." She snorts. "He couldn't even keep it in his pants during _our_ relationship."

"Wh…you two were dating?"

_Why didn't he ever tell me?_

"Of course. I'm not some whore you know."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that. I was surprised is all. He told me that you two were just fooling around, nothing serious."

"That's Alex for you. We're that on-again-off-again couple. Have been since my fourth year."

"Why do you keep going back?" I ask, intrigued.

"That's not something I discuss with random people."

_I _was_ being nosy. Now the question of whether to tell Lily or not. Probably not. What would she do with that information anyway? _Her_ and Alex are dating, not _Julia_ and Alex. There's no point in causing harm or trouble where it's not needed._

"Did you want to have dinner we me?" I ask.

"No." She looks at me like I'm the creepiest person she's ever come across.

"I'll be eating with James and Sirius just to let you know."

"Do you want something from me?"

"Not at all."

_Just trying to set my friends up is all. _

"Look, can we just pay attention to the Professor. I've wanted to do nonverbal spells since I saw my parents implement them when I was younger."

"Sure thing! And I _so_ know what you mean." I nod. "I thought my mom and dad were the coolest thing ever when they did that."

She ignores me and scribbles down notes from the lecture.

_That's good enough for today. I should probably be paying attention also. I'll crack her for James or Sirius soon._

* * *

"How long do you have before Astronomy?" Lily asks me as I make myself welcome on her bed.

"An hour or two. So, I talked to Julia today and I'm on a mission to get her with James or Sirius. What'd you think?"

"Why her?"

I shrug.

"I was sitting next to her and all of a sudden the thought came to me. She seems fun and passionate, so that can't be all too bad."

"Seems? You got that from talking to her for a couple of minutes?"

"Yes." I laugh. "I'm psychic or something along those lines."

"She can't have James."

"Why not? He's single and needing to mingle. Big time."

"You know why." She murmurs.

"Lils! You can't do that to him. You already have his heart. At least let his penis live and thrive."

"Am I being selfish?"

"Yes." I answer honestly. "He needs to move on from you or else it's going to be awkward at every single thing we do as a group."

"That's why I don't go."

"And _that_ needs to end. Come on! The four guys are so close that I feel like an unwanted fifth wheel when I'm with them. But if you were there…" I shine her big, irresistible eyes.

She falls prey just as Remus always does.

"Fine. Just so you know though, I'll be veering her towards Sirius."

"Fair enough."

"Well I have big news." Lily puts her quill down on her desk and faces towards me.

"Yeah?" I prop up on my elbows. "What is it?"

"I'm no longer a virgin."

"Uhm….what?! Seriously?" She nods. "When?"

"Yesterday after I talked to you in Charms. I didn't know it was going to happen. We were making up after a fight and, well, it led to sex. Truthfully I felt Alex kind of forced it to happen. I kept saying no but he was telling me how it would be pleasurable. I didn't want to come off as some prude so I gave in."

I try to wrap my head around all of this. I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out.

_I have no idea how to respond to her. To me it sounds like the sex was not mutual for both parties. How could Alex do this?_

A feeling of protectiveness over Lily surrounds my body.

"Have you and Remus had sex yet?"

I shake my head, still stunned.

"I want us to talk about it first. The advice columns in Witch Weekly say to do that. And it's free advice so I might as well take it. What harm can it do? The thing is I have no clue how to start the conversation. I'm sure it'll be the most awkward talk we have as a couple. Ever."

"I would have liked Alex and me to have talked about it. I want to know his expectations and what he likes and things like that." She says. "I don't want Alex to think that this means we're going to have sex all the time now." Lily sighs.

_This girl sure in swimming in the regret zone right now._

"I started dating Alex in the desire to have the same relationship you and Remus have. You two are bloody perfect together. Practically everyone wants to be you two. You have a lot of jealous stemming your way from me and others."

"Really?"

_Really? We're not that special. I wish we were, but we're pretty darn normal._

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we're not perfect. No couple or person in. Everything is flawed. Just because no flaw has shown up on our relationship yet doesn't mean that there won't be one."

"I'll be excited to see what that is. Er, no offense that is." Lily quickly amends.

"None taken. I've never dated someone this long. I feel like I'm going to mess it up somehow." I confide.

"If I had to pick between the two of you, I would choose Remus for that role." She says.

"Yeah right." I grunt. "I'm still waiting for him to stop being so 'bloody perfect'. I swear there's absolutely nothing wrong with that hunk of man. Watch him have a secret life as like a Blood-Sucking Bugbear or Centaur."

"What about a werewolf?" Lily asks me, genuinely interested.

"We could add that on the lookout list."

"Seriously. What would you do if he was one?" She insists.

_What a strange girl._

"I wouldn't do anything. What do I care if he is one?" I think back to his aunt. "If Remus took the Wolfsbane when he's supposed to, there would be no reason for me to fear him. I'm already attached to the guy so being a werewolf wouldn't turn me off and make me runaway." I answer honestly.

"Would you want to marry him and carry his children if he was one?"

"Woah! Getting way ahead of yourself there!"

"Humor me."

"Alright. Um, yeah, I would. If I loved him what would it matter? He's already an amazing boyfriend so I think he would be a great husband and father. Satisfied weirdo?"

Relief washes over her pale face.

"Definitely."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I make my way over the dewy green grass, straying far from the puddles caused by the rain from last night. The humidity continues to frizz up my hair as I jiggle the doorknob to enter the laundry room.

"Welcome home honey! How was Lily's?" My mom peeks her head in whilst I wipe my shoes on the bright, sunshine yellow mat.

"Good mom." I reply.

Last night I slept over at Lily's. Petunia's staying in London over Lily's break and then going with Bernard – or whatever to his name is – to his parent's house for Easter dinner. Needless to say, Lily's all alone with her mom and dad, and if they're anything like mine, then extra company is much wanted.

"Don't forget about dinner with the Lupins next week." She reminds me as I walk past her and up the stairs to my room.

"How could I've forgotten? You remind me every day, plus he's my boyfriend. Why would I forget something like that?"

Apparently my mom, in want of new wizard friends, wrote to Remus's mom after she found out I was his date to Slughorn's Christmas Party. She wrote me telling me that she was going to owl them, but I never gave it much thought. Well, Mrs. Lupin and my mom went for tea and bonded. Now the Lupins want us over for dinner. I told my mom that I was dating their son and she couldn't have been any happier. My father couldn't have been any unhappier.

"Testy testy." My mom tsks.

I ignore her and head to the shower to clean myself up for the day. There's some sort of market in town where muggles will be selling food and crafts and the likes. Lily said it's a lot of fun but she's stuck inside this year. I suggested it to my parents and they agreed to go check it out.

After a quick shower and dressing, Bonky makes us all lunch. It's a light enough meal that we'll still be hungry and able to taste some of the muggle food there. Once our stomachs are satisfied, the three of us set out on foot since we don't have any non-magical means of transportation. Lily said it's a five minute walk and that we can't miss it.

_I hope she's right. My mom and dad can be pretty dense sometimes._

After a couple of minutes though, she's right. There's a whole mass of people mulling about with bulging sacks hanging off their arms. I branch off from my parents and get lost in the crowd. When I'm at this one lady's stand, my eyes root out and cling to a familiar figure sitting by a tree. I excuse myself and cheerily make my way over.

"Hey Severus!" I sit right next to him. "I didn't know you lived near here!"

He merely nods and keeps his nose stuck in his book. I lower it with my hand and in return get granted a death glare.

"I'm surprised that this is your type of thing. The shopping I mean." I point to the stands set up along the road.

"My mother is working one."

"Really? Which one?" I bob my head around to see if I can identify her.

I give up after a while without his help.

"Did you know Lily lives here too?"

"Yes." He mumbles.

"What've you been doing on break so far?"

"Trying to get peace. If you please, I wish to be alone."

"Whoops! My bad, sorry!" I say softly and go off in search of my parents.

I find them buying some homemade wooden baskets from an elderly couple.

"I've met another wizarding family." My mom says. "You go to school with their son."

"What's his name?"

"I can't remember honey. But _her_ name Eileen."

After an hour goes by, my dad decides he's going to head back home. The sun is still high and beaming but as the day wears on, people filter out and only a few handfuls remain.

"Eileen! Yoohoo!" My mom shouts and waves her hand rapidly in the air.

A frail lady limply raises her hand to wave back. My mom takes me by the arm over to this feeble woman.

"Eileen, this is my daughter that I was telling you about earlier – the one who goes to school with your son. Is he here right now?" My mom jerks her head around to try to find him.

"Mum, do you need any help? It's getting late and dad would want us back." A black, long-haired boy pops up that I immediately recognize as Severus.

Severus meets my eyes and nods his head in greeting.

"Are you ready to go?" He says to his mom.

The woman weakly bobs her head up in down.

"Before you go, I was wondering if you and your family wanted to come have dinner with us." My mom hurriedly asks.

Now that I'm closer I can see scars and bruises covering Severus' mom's arms and face.

_What could that be from?_

"We can't. My father is very strict and does not like us to mingle with strangers." Severus takes his mother's arm.

"My dad's strict too! They can be so protective, can't they?" I agree.

Severus gives me an odd look and excuses his mom and himself, walking off into the distance.

"That was strange." My mom muses and looks down at me. "Oh well, we still have that dinner with the Lupins next Wednesday. I have much more to discuss with her. Oh honey, the Lupins are good people and if something were to ever happen to your father and me, I know that they would take great care of you." She strokes my cheek.

"Mom, what're you talking about? What's going to happen?"

"Life." My mom cryptically says. "Come on, time to go home."

* * *

I look out the window and see the lights in Lily's room are on. Her flaming red hair is hunched over her desk; books sprawled out in front of her. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about her and Alex. Do I say anything or keep my mouth shut?

Dear Remus,

Several more days until I see you. Is it slightly embarrassing that I miss you very much? I ran into Severus and his mother today. I had no idea that they lived so close by! I've never seen them before. You still never told me what I should wear to meet your parents. Is a dress okay or do you think it's not warm enough for that? And heels? Or is that too fussy?

The real reason I'm writing is because I don't know what I'm supposed to do with Lily. It kills me to see her being treated so poorly by Alex. Maybe if I said something to him, do you think that would work? I want her to be as happy in a relationship as we are, but she just seems so miserable. I feel as if I'm responsible. I mean I _did_ tell her to ask him out. Oh Rem, I caused her to be miserable. I wasn't thinking about what I was telling her at the time, I just blurted it out. Am I a terrible friend? Should I tell her to break it off with him since I'm responsible for telling her to get it on with him in the first place?

Wish You Were Here,

Corinne

I roll up my parchment and tie it onto Pearl who sets off into the night. I then dim the lights and hop onto my big, plush bed, grabbing Coconut and settling her next to me as I open up _Flesh-Eating Trees of the World_ and finish the last assignment for Herbology for this semester that's due the first week of June.

I wasn't really given much work to do over this two week break. If I could, I would continue to practice my Patronus and the Human Transfiguration we've been working on in class, but I'm not 17 yet. Remus and the others are so lucky in that aspect. What I've been doing to keep the time rolling by is reading up on and highlighting my notes for all my classes and creating study guides. I'm nervous for these N.E.W.T.'s next year and Alex said that I should be studying now so I'm taking his advice.

I grab the cat treats right next to my hot chocolate on the nightstand. Coconut immediately perks up and beggingly mewls for the food. I laugh at how cute she is, this being the only time she gives me her kitten eyes and acts all nice. Then I lean back on my pillows and begin the Herbology essay.

* * *

Three pages in, I hear a popping sound. I brushed it off at first but when Coco jerked her head up, so did I. A big smile hit my face and I immediately got off the bed.

"I mind none, but what are you doing here?" I ask my boyfriend in-between kisses.

"You seemed to need someone to talk to, so I decided to come in person."

"You're truly the best." I hold his hand tight and pull him over to the bed.

Remus lies down and I sidle up next to him, making circles on his chest.

"You shouldn't take responsibility for what happened." He says after a few minutes pass. "You may have told her to, but Lily was the one who asked him and she's the one who is deciding what to do with her life."

"But I influenced it. And don't say I didn't because we both know I did."

He lets out a long sigh.

"This is bothering you a lot, isn't it?"

I nod my head against him.

"She's my best friend and I don't want to see her go down the wrong path, do more things that'll she'll end up regretting."

"You might not like this idea, but you should tell her these things. It's going to be hard and she might get mad at you, but at least she knows that you care."

I nod again and plant a kiss on his lips.

"You staying with me tonight?" I ask, hopefully.

"If you wish." He smiles.

As we head under the covers, I turn the lights out.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

My parents sensed that I was getting bored at home, so they apparated me back to our home in America. They've been getting more distant recently and aren't in the house as often so it's been a little lonely, but Remus has been staying over with me most nights. Sometimes I go over to Lily's house where her mom and dad wait on me hand-and-foot. She has such incredibly loving parents. One day James, Sirius and Remus came over and we hung out and had a lot of fun…but it felt weird because Lily wasn't there. I still have yet to talk to Lily one-on-one.

_Maybe I'll do that tonight when I get back._

I smooth down my skirt before opening the door to Elderflower. Right as I walk in I begin to inhale Humid Days – Mr. Ratuspet's favorite scent.

_He's a strange man that one._

I catch said man at the counter and give him a small wave. He directs me to my friends.

As I get closer to the table, I notice a different face.

_Is that…ah damn it is._

"Hey guys! Hey Everest! What're you doing here?" I greet my ex-boyfriend.

"I wanted to tell you in a letter, but felt that seemed impersonal. Um, but, we're dating now." Darla says.

_Er, okay. This is a little awkward._

Everest and I had a very tumultuous relationship. One that lasted longer than it ever should have. I think we were both just lonely and clung to each other. But that was like two years ago and we were young. He's probably different now.

"Oh, well congratulations! That's exciting! Since when?"

"Since last month. It's annoying because we barely see her anymore." Janet rolls her eyes.

"Jan I _love_ your hair! You mentioned you cut it but this is just fabulous." I poke at her frizzy hair, cut short enough that it looks like an afro.

"Really? Thanks Riri!" She smiles big and wide.

"And Darla, I don't care that you two are dating. I just want you to be happy and you seem to be. Just know Everest, treat her right." I wag my finger at him.

"If you don't you know my daddy will surely hex you." Brie narrows her eyes at him.

Everest clears his throat and nods.

"Anyway Riri, I wanted to tell you this, but last week…well, I hooked up with Mr. Wilkens." Brie nonchalantly blurts out.

"What?!" I scream. "Brie…what!?"

"Yeah. I was failing his class and I stayed after to beg him to raise my grade and well, it led to that."

I just stare at her in shock and confusion.

"It was just a onetime thing! No worries!" She reassures.

"Oh man. Holy moley Brie. Okay, honesty time: I've thought about doing that with him too. I mean Physical Examination with him was _hard_!"

The girls at the table burst out laughing in agreeance.

We all chatted for a while, indirectly ignoring Everest with all of our girl talk. Every now and then people who I knew from the Salem Institute would come over and join us.

"It's nice to see everyone again." I lean back and relax in the cushioned chair.

"Well it's nice to see _you_ again." Janet says. "And, we should have told you earlier but we got caught up in other discussions: our parents have been considering moving over to England and Scotland to join in the fight. If this happens, we will go to Hogwarts and see you every day. Did your parents tell you any of this yet? Your dad and mom have been conversing with our parents about making the move for a couple of months now."

"I would _love_ for you guys to come, but its war. I wouldn't feel comfortable having you there. I would be worrying about you too much!" I reply.

"That's _exactly_ why we want to come. Magical creatures such as us have to stick together whether they be across the pond or not." Janet explains.

I shake my head.

"It's hard enough having to think of my parent's fate, but you guys' too? That's too much." I murmur.

_This got depressing real fast._

"All due respect Riri, we have been learning more spells. Probably not as much as you have, but it's something. You're right honey, its war. But that shouldn't stop anyone and it's not going to stop us." Darla takes my hand.

I sigh.

"If you guys are coming for sure, let me know. I'll be happy to help you out with everything. You're right. War and death is imminent. The more hands and experienced witches, the better. It's just going to be so hard to think about what the near future will be." I stand up and give them each a tight hug, except Everest. "I have to go now but keep on writing. I miss you all so much."

We all group hug it out one last time.

* * *

"Thank you Mrs. Evans." I say to Lily's mom before she shuts the door to her daughter's room.

"Back to what we were saying, um, there's something I've been meaning to get off my chest. I've been going back and forth over whether I should say something or if it's not my place, but I think I should. And I could be wrong so don't get mad and angry. I'm not trying to attack you."

"What is it? You've got me worried?" Lily lets out a small laugh as we arrange ourselves on her bed.

"It's just that…that….well." I sigh as I pick at her homemade quilt.

On it are knitted pictures of lily flowers. Her grandmother made it for her when she was four and Lily's kept it ever since.

_How do I even begin? I wish Remus was here to help me out. Damn, when did I become so dependent on him?_

"Recently you've been saying things that have sent off alarm bells in my head. I'm worried about you being with Alex. I know he's a great guy, I'm friends with him. But I just don't think you two belong together."

We sit in silence for a long minute. She seems to be cultivating a response as I wait in fear of what she will say.

"I don't want this to ruin our friendship. It's just so hard to see you with him when you're clearly unhappy and I thi-"

"Corinne." She interrupts me and I fall quiet. "I-I know. I know, I know, I know. This relationship is such a mistake. I mean, I don't even like him anymore. He very attractive, but quite vapid and…and he's not James. I'm not mad at you for coming and telling me this. True, it's not your place, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

"Oh. Okay this went monstrously better than what I was expecting. Lily, I love you and just don't want anything bad to happen to you. Ever."

"Let's hug it out." She opens her arms and I cuddle into them. "And I won't tell Remus that you love me and not him."

I giggle.

"Too soon for that!"

"Is it?" She inquires.

* * *

"It's a good thing my parents aren't naturally curious people or else they would start to wonder where I go half the time." Remus murmurs in my ear as we huddle by the fire Bonky created.

I smile and stroke his hands that are entrapped around my waist.

"And it's a good thing my parents have been busy these past couple of days." I tilt my head back and give him a small, sweet kiss. "I've decided on an outfit for the dinner."

"Finally." He jokes. "Let's hear it."

"I have this spring-like dress I've been meaning to wear for a while now. My pink robe would go perfectly with it. And I have this ribbon I was going to tie in my hair. I'm going for sweet and cute. Coco helped my decide last night."

"Where is that cat?"

"Trailing Bonky around. Bonky spoils her too much. Coconut's starting to get a little pudgy. But she's still adorable."

"I hope you'll think that way about me if I ever get fat."

"Of course!" I turn around in his arms and look up at him shocked. "You must think so low of me. Obviously I find you extremely attractive, but that's not the only thing I'm keeping you around for." I tease.

"Oh really now."

"Mmm hmm." I hum out against his lips before meshing them together.

His slightly chapped lips move against my soft, lush ones. When his hand travels under my skirt and cups my bottom, I mewl out in delight and pull away a millimeter.

"How about I try on some sexy outfits for you." I breathe.

I get off him and take his hand, leading him and his smirking smile right on up to my room.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"Can't you stay for a little longer Rem?" I whine as I wrap my arms around his waist the next morning, resting my chin on his chest.

He leans down and lovingly rubs his nose against mine.

"I have to get home. Mum's been on me to clean the house and gave me a list of duties to accomplish before your family comes over."

I pout.

"Well I guess I'll see you later tonight then. I think we might use the Floo Network. Is that okay?"

"It should be. If I get to tidying it up. James, Sirius, and Peter are coming over later too. You might be gone by that point though."

"I haven't seen them as much as usual. I kind of miss them all."

"And before I forget, the full moon is in a couple of days so I'll be staying home to be with my Aunt. I won't be there when we get back from break."

"How'd I end of with someone so kind and thoughtful, hmm?" I mumble before giving him a short, wet, passionate kiss. "Just don't get hurt!"

Remus shuffles uncomfortably and out of my grasp. He nods and apparates out.

_ That was weird. Does he not like talking about his Aunt? He's never acted strange before when he's told me in the past that he has to go take care of her. Has something happened recently? Did she accidentally hurt him? _

"Corinne honey! Come on down for breakfast!" I hear my mom shout.

I open my door and hurry down the stairs, famished. My dad lounges in his chair reading _The Daily Prophet_. Moving on the front of it is a wanted poster of a Death Eater.

_There's so many of them joining the Dark Lord's cause these days._

"Can you pass the butter Aly?" My dad requests.

I pull out my chair as she passes it across the table.

"Since you're not doing much until tonight, I want you to help Bonky clean the house. She'll help you go through your wardrobe too and pick out what you no longer need. Eileen told me of an orphanage up the street that is always is in need of clothes." My mom says.

I start to make myself a bacon sandwich.

"Okay, we'll get started after breakfast then. Is that okay Bonky?" I ask her as she walks in with more food.

"Yes mistress." She nods.

"Are you guys going to help?" I ask my parents.

"Your father is meeting up with Lily's father. He's interested in learning about muggle devices and her dad is willing to help."

"What about you?"

"I'm relaxing."

"Wow mom. Thanks for the help." I roll my eyes at her.

"Being a mother is hard work!" My mother playfully scolds. "One day you'll be a mother and learn of its gifts and unpleasantries."

"Not anytime soon." My dad pipes up.

"I was around her age when _I_ got pregnant Phil."

"No wonder your parents hated me. We were so young."

"But you two are wonderful parents nonetheless." I sip my pumpkin juice.

"Oh honey, how sweet!" My mom hugs me with her open arm. "But I'm still not helping you and Bonky."

I sigh loudly.

"Fine fine. Are you ready then Bonky?"

"Yes mistress." Bonky leads the way to the bathroom on the uppermost floor.

"Will Mr. Lupin be joining us later tonight?" She asks as we ascend the stairs.

"No. In fact, we're heading over to his place tonight for dinner. You can take the night off and head into town if you wish."

"Thank you mistress. I do enjoy Mr. Lupin's presence. I find him more pleasant than your last boyfriend – a Mr. Everest Culk I believe."

"That's the one." We turn a corner. "And I think the same. Remus is an easy-going and open-minded man. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. You'll find someone like him Bonky. Maybe even tonight!"

"One can only hope mistress."

* * *

"How come the images don't move?" I ask Remus as I lean into him a little more on his couch.

His mother had spent all day cooking for us and the food was absolutely delicious.

"My dad is a muggle and he has this thing they call a camera. This 'camera' takes photographs that don't move." Remus explains.

"Hmm. You were an awfully chubby little boy." I wrinkle my nose.

He lets out a good, hearty laugh. His mom, who's standing behind me, hands me another picture of Remus when he was younger.

"Ah. That was during my first year at Hogwarts." He says.

"Is that Sirius? Wow. Even then he needed a haircut."

"Now that's not too nice sweetheart." I hear a male voice and look up, seeing James, Sirius, and Peter by the front door.

Remus gets up and goes over to them.

"Hey Momma Lupin! Any leftovers?" Sirius and his ever-charming self says.

"Afraid not Sirius darling." Remus' mom apologizes.

"I'll have to learn to come earlier next time." Sirius comments.

"Come on out. We have a spot on the hill set up." James waves us out the door. "Sorry, no parents allowed." He holds up his hand to stop our moms and dads from following.

I couldn't help but laugh at his brazenness.

"Well then!" Mrs. Lupin says. "We'll just stay in I guess. Tea anyone?"

"Yes please." My dad replies.

"I'll come help." My mom offers.

We leave the adults to their socializing and head off in the direction Peter takes us.

Outside the moon shines high in the sky, a soft summer breeze drifting through the tall emerald grass and blowing my hair off my shoulders. The hill was a small one and on top of it lays a large red blanket. I stare up at the night sky.

_It's much clearer here. So many more stars. Beautiful really._

"Remember anything from Astronomy?" Remus comes behind me and wraps his arms around me.

"Not at all. You probably remember everything though." I giggle.

"Very true. I used to come out here all the time as a kid and pick out constellations, track the moon, name the stars." He plants light kisses on my neck.

_I could stay in his embrace forever._

"You two lovebirds coming?" Sirius asks as he pulls me out of Remus' grasp and in the direction of the lake.

Tied to a big, sturdy tree is, what I believe, a tire held up by some rope. Peter is holding the tire steady as James mounts it. He lets go and James waits for the circular object tp swing him out into the middle of the water, where he promptly drops and makes a big splash.

"You're next milady." Sirius bows down in front of the swing and motions for me to hop aboard.

_Why not?_

"Hold tight until you're right above James, then let go." Remus tells me as he helps me on.

"Okay. Don't push too hard tho-" Just as I say that Remus gives me the grandest of pushes. "Ah! Remus!" I scream while all the guys laugh.

I focus on the water and when I feel that James is right below me, I release my tight grip. My body falls freely through the air, but only for a second or two. I hit the water and submerge. James pulls me up and I throw my arms around his shoulders, laughing with glee. Less than a minute later Remus splashes us both as he jumps in right next to us.

The others join after and soon enough we're playing games in the water. I sat on Remus's shoulders as I wrestled Sirius off Peter. James went around underwater yanking on people's legs and pulling them under. We then resume jumping off the tire swing, sometimes two or more going at once.

James takes out his camera and snaps pictures of all of us. I myself take a mental picture, wanting to remember this moment when future destruction befalls upon us all.

After all the craziness, when we lose our energy, we lay out on that blanket, taking advantage of our freedom while we still can.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Lily! Wait up!" I yell down the corridor.

The flaming redhead turns in her tracks and waits for me to catch up to her.

"You are one fast walker." I huff out.

She laughs.

"It's the only exercise I get. So what's up?"

"Um," I scratch my head, "I thought from that one conversation we had that you were going to break it off with Alex."

It's only been a few days since school began again, but Lily and Alex are still wrapped up in each other.

"Corinne, it's none of your business." She explains.

"Sorry." I cringe. "I didn't mean to intrude."

Lily sighs.

"Listen, I'm lonely. Being with Alex makes me not lonely. It's not the most perfect relationship, I know, but need to stop comparing everything to what you and Remus have. I just feel like you're judging my decisions because they don't align to what _you_ want for me."

"I don't mean to come across that way. I'm sorry."

"Same here." Lily says and walks away.

_What just happened?_

Remus and the rest of the guys were passing by when this conversation took place so they heard everything. Sensing tears attempting to well up in my eyes, I try to continuously swallow the lump in my throat. My boyfriend turns me in his arms and hugs me. I stare up at him.

"I can't help but feel like a terrible friend." I murmur.

Those lips I've come to know very well lightly touch my forehead.

"I wouldn't worry too much. Probably going through that time of month you girls go through." Sirius pops up and puts his arm around my neck. "You all are always so bloody moody then."

_Yeah, that might be it._

_ I hope._

"Well come on then. Don't want to be late for Potions." James says

We all get there and find our seats. I felt bad about having Peter switch with Remus to be my partner, so I made then switch again before break.

"Settle down, settle down. Monday we talked about Amortentia. Many of the upperclassman still converse about this potion because its smell reminded them of what they find appealing, and in some cases it helped those who were oblivious recognize what or who they found attractive. It's a very popular potion. But we all know that this potion is indeed dangerous. I don't wish to go into too much detail since we spent all last class discussing this, but if I catch any of you sneaking some of this potion out of the classroom, expect expulsion." Our Professor warns.

I plop the Ashwinder eggs into the dark cauldron. Steam rises but I have to wait a while longer until the steam forms spirals. In the meantime I decide to chat with Peter.

"Did you spend break with your family?" I ask him.

"For a little while. I mostly spent my time with the rest of the Marauders." Peter's small eyes shift around. "We came up with more prankss…that I wasn't supposed to tell you about."

I laugh.

"Why aren't I allowed to know?"

"Ever since you went off on Remus weeks ago we've been trying to – you know – keep our plans more secretive."

"I did that for a good reason though!"

"We just don't want to upset you anymore."

"Hmm." I murmur. "As long as you all leave Severus alone I don't care what you do. I didn't mind when Lily's hair kept setting itself on fire all day or when you all took Polyjuice and ended up as different people so I ended up making out with Professor Dumbledore all day. I don't even know how you guys got close enough to him to snag his hair."

"I'll make sure that we don't involve Severus then. For you."

"Oh Peter." I bring him into my arms and kiss him on his forehead.

* * *

"Kissing other men? I wasn't aware we were not exclusive." Remus teases in DADA later.

We nabbed a seat together in the beginning of class, preparing for another lecture on nonverbal magic. Remus missed Monday and Tuesday, having to be home for his Aunt. I saw him at Breakfast this morning and, well, he's looked better. His hair has more gray flecks and his energy was just drained.

"Oh please. I hardly think Peter counts." I roll my eyes.

I look at the board to see what our Professor wrote and copy that into my notes.

"I have no idea how I'm supposed to do nonverbal spells. Maybe you can teach me later tonight." I offer.

Remus wriggles in his seat and lets out a slight cough.

"I'll be glad to help you in _that_ department. We're not talking about me actually teaching you, right? Because I'm thinking we-"

My boyfriend stops mid-babble as I trace my finger down his vest and to his pants, tracing the outline of his member.

"We're in class!"

"In back. No one's going to see us." I urge.

As he considers it, I continue my ministrations. I unbutton his pants and pull out his long, thick manhood. My small fingers wrap around the bottom of the shaft and start to pump upwards, paying special attention to its head.

Just as the going was getting good, Remus takes my hand and stops me. His tired eyes seek out mine.

"I can't be discrete enough. You're too good for me to be quiet."

"Fine. We'll just 'practice' these spells in bed later. And make sure Sirius doesn't interrupt." I lean over and give him a small kiss.


End file.
